Aggregated authentication (AMAC) using universal hash functions

Aggregation is a very important issue to reduce the energy consumption in Wireless Sensors Networks (WSNs). There is currently a lack of cryptographic primitives for authentication of aggregated data. The theoretical background for Aggregated Message Authentication Codes (AMACs) has been proposed by Chan and Castelluccia at ISIT 08. In this paper, we propose a MAC design based on universal hash functions and more precisely on the Krawczyk’s constructions. We show how those designs can be used for aggregation and how it can be easily adapted for WSNs. Our two AMAC constructions offer a small memory footprint and a signification speed to fit into a sensor. Moreover, when compared with scenarios without aggregation, the method proposed here induces a simulated energy gain between 3 and 9.