TRUSTED SIMPLE NETWORK MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL FOR INTEGRITY EVALUATION IN DISTRIBUTED ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

As computer technology continues to advance, the imperative for enhanced security and privacy for users becomes increasingly pronounced. A multitude of individuals are interconnected with networks in various ways, be it through mobile phones, online banking, ATM transactions, email communication, social networking, and more. With technology's pervasive integration into our daily lives, users face mounting security risks, particularly concerning the confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility of their data. Despite the myriad solutions proposed by researchers to shield user information from unauthorized access and ensure their security, grappling with these security challenges remains an arduous endeavor. In an era of rapid technological evolution, the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) has taken the lead in developing security specifications aligned with international standards for various industries. Among its notable contributions is the creation of the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a security chip that incorporates cryptographic techniques within hardware to instill trust in computing systems. TPM functions as a specialized cryptographic processor meticulously designed to bolster system security. At its core, TPM serves the pivotal role of guaranteeing the integrity of a system. The foundation of trust is established from the moment of power-on boot, often referred to as the "core of assurance." Security-relevant gauges are securely stored in Platform Configuration Registers (PCRs), diligently monitoring, reporting any deviations from previous configurations. These reports inform decisions on how to proceed, ensuring that both users and applications running on the system can have unwavering confidence in its security. While we say the TPM checks the integrity of the individual node and their no such way to check the integrity of whole system and we have proposed that the solution is designed to centrally report the rectitude status of every system in the network. It involves extending the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to get integrity information from all network nodes and clients, along with other relevant status data and report to the administrator. A specific Object ID within the SNMP Management Information Base (MIB) has been designated to link the necessary rectitude information acquired through TPM PCR_QUOTE. This information is subsequently transmitted to the administrator in response to an SNMP GET. On the server side, the received PCR_QUOTE data is compared to the stored values representing both beneficial and harmful conditions. The proposed architecture the Simple Network Management Protocol securely gathering the integrity data of every node. Since SNMP is an open-source protocol, in this study we expand its functionality by reserving an Object Identifier (OID) to associate the extracted hash of integrity measurement. The study shows that it does not compromise the performance or integrity of the system or SNMP. Overall the proposed extended SNMP model offers a robust solution for trusted and secure network management with minimal performance impact.