Identity-based cryptography for grid security

The majority of current security architectures for grid systems use public key infrastructure (PKI) to authenticate identities of grid members and to secure resource allocation to these members. Identity-based cryptography (IBC) has some attractive properties that seem to align well with the demands of grid computing. This paper presents a comprehensive investigation into the use of identity-based techniques to provide an alternative grid security architecture. We propose a customised identity-based key agreement protocol, which fits nicely with the grid security infrastructure (GSI). We also present a delegation protocol, which is simpler and more efficient than existing delegation methods. Our study shows that properties of IBC can be exploited to provide grid security services in a more natural and clean way than more conventional public key cryptosystems, such as RSA.