An adaptive distributed certificate management scheme for space information network

The security vulnerability of space information network is stimulating interest in developing security mechanisms study of heterogeneous network. However, it is noted that neither the single certificate authority (CA) nor the distributed CA can meet the security requirements for this type of network. In this study, the authors propose an adaptive distributed certificate management scheme in which the nodes that provide certificate services are selected dynamically in the network. The security risks caused by the static nodes are avoided in the proposed scheme. The status of the nodes in the network is completely equal and the credit values that vary with the operation of the network are the only criterion to measure their responsibilities. The scheme can effectively prevent attackers from getting permission of the certificate services and could be applicable to the complex and dynamic networks.