Low-Cost Authentication Protocol for D2D Communication in m-Health with Trust Evaluation

Relay-assisted device-to-device (D2D) communication serves users at the edge of system coverage of 5G networks, enabling communication among sensors and patients’ mobile devices, and improving spectral and power efficiency. The security of D2D-based m-health applications requires attention due to the delicacy of the data treated in the collection, transmission, and storage of information on patients, whose devices must be adequately authenticated. However, traditional authentication and key agreement schemes are not suitable for D2D scenarios, since they might expose patients to security vulnerabilities and lead to an excessive use of resources. This article proposes a secure and lightweight scheme based on Shamir secret sharing for the mutual authentication of m-health devices in relay-assisted D2D communications, which provides security robustness and reduces resources (energy, processing) consumption. The manuscript also addresses the trustworthiness of devices involved in data relay and device discovery procedures.