BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY/SECURITY

What’s With the Name?

•The name ‘Bluetooth’ was named after 10th century
Viking king in Denmark Harald Bluetooth who united
and controlled Denmark and Norway.

The name was adopted because Bluetooth wireless

technology is expected to unify the
telecommunications and computing industries
 Who Started Bluetooth?

• Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) Founded in Spring 1998

 By Ericsson, Intel, IBM, Nokia, Toshiba;

 Now more than 2000 organizations joint the SIG

 What Is Bluetooth?

☼ Bluetooth is an open standard for short-range

digital radio to interconnect a variety of devices Cell
phones, PDA, notebook computers, modems,
cordless phones, pagers, laptop computers, printers,
cameras by developing a single-chip, low-cost,
radio-based wireless network technology
Bluetooth
 Simplifying communications between:
- devices and the internet
- data synchronization
 Operates in licensed exempt ISM band at 2.4ghz
 Uses frequency hoping spread spectrum
 Omni directional, no requiring line of sight
 Bluetooth offers data speeds of up to 1 Mbps up to 10
meters (Short range wireless radio technology )
 Unlike IrDA, Bluetooth supports a LAN-like mode
where multiple devices can interact with each other.
 The key limitations of Bluetooth are security and
interference with wireless LANs.
 Short range wireless radio technology
Bluetooth

 Bluetooth is a PAN Technology

 Offers fast and reliable transmission for both voice and
data
 Can support either one asynchronous data channel with up
to three simultaneous synchronous speech channels or one
channel that transfers asynchronous data and synchronous
speech simultaneously
 Support both packet-switching and circuit-switching
Bluetooth

 Personal Area Network (PAN) Bluetooth is a standard

that will …
 Eliminate wires and cables between both stationary and
mobile devices
 Facilitate both data and voice communications
 Offer the possibility of Ad hoc networks and deliver
synchronicity between personal devices
Bluetooth Topology
 Bluetooth-enabled devices can automatically locate each other
 Topology is established on a temporary and random basis
 Up to eight Bluetooth devices may be networked together in a master-slave
relationship to form a Piconet
Cont.

 One is master, which controls and setup the

network
 All devices operate on the same channel and
follow the same frequency hopping sequence
 Two or more piconet interconnected to form
a scatter net
 Only one master for each piconet
 A device can’t be masters for two piconets
 The slave of one piconet can be the master of
another piconet
Ad-hoc
 Ad-hoc is a network connection method which is
most often associated with wireless devices.
 The connection is established for the duration of
one session and requires no base station.
 Instead, devices discover others within range to
form a network for those computers.
 Devices may search for target nodes that are out
of range by flooding the network with broadcasts
that are forwarded by each node.
 Connections are possible over multiple nodes
(multihop ad hoc network).
 Routing protocols then provide stable connections
even if nodes are moving around
A piconet
 is an ad-hoc computer network of devices using
Bluetooth technology protocols to allow one master
device to interconnect with up to seven active slave
devices
 Up to 255 further slave devices can be inactive, or
parked, which the master device can bring into active
status at any time.
Bluetooth Frequency
• Has been set aside by the ISM( industrial ,scientific
and medical ) for exclusive use of Bluetooth wireless
products

• Communicates on the 2.45 GHz frequency

Simplified Bluetooth stack
Bluetooth Profile Structure
Bluetooth Chip

Bluetooth Chip
Baseband Link
RF Controller Manager
SPECIFICATIONS

 Bluetooth specifications are divided into two:

 Core Specifications
This bluetooth specification contains the Bluetooth Radio
Specification as well as the Baseband, Link Manager, L2CAP,
Service Discovery, RFCOMM and other specifications.
SPECIFICATIONS

 Application Specifications
 These specifications include the following
 Profiles Cordless Telephony
 Serial Port
 Headset
 Intercom
 Dialup Networking
 Fax
 File Transfer
 Service Discovery Application
 Generic Access
Power Management Benefits

 Cable Replacement
 Replace the cables for peripheral devices
 Ease of file sharing
 Panel discussion, conference, etc.
 Wireless synchronization
 Synchronize personal information contained in the
address books and date books between different
devices such as PDAs, cell phones, etc.
 Bridging of networks
 Cellphone connects to the network through dial-up
connection while connecting to a laptop with
Bluetooth.
Bluetooth Devices

Bluetooth will soon be enabled in

everything from:
• Telephones
• Headsets
• Computers
• Cameras
• PDAs
• Cars
• Etc …
Bluetooth Products 1

• Bluetooth-enabled
PC Card
Bluetooth Products 2

• Bluetooth-enabled
PDA
Bluetooth Products 3

• Bluetooth-enabled
Cell Phone
Bluetooth Products 4

• Bluetooth-enabled Head
Set
Usage Models
 Cordless computer
 Ultimate headset
 Three-in-one phone
 Interactive conference (file transfer)
 Direct network access
 Instant postcard
Wireless Technologies

 There are two technologies that have been developed

as wireless cable replacements: Infrared (IRDA) and
radio (Bluetooth).
Compare Infrared, Bluetooth

Bluetooth Infrared
Connection Spread Infrared, narrow
Type Spectrum beam

Optical 850
Spectrum 2.4GHz
nano meters

Data Rate 1Mbps 16Mbps

Range 30 Feet 3 Feet

Supported
Upto 8 2
Devices
Cont…..
Voice
3 1
Channels
No special
Data Security 8-128bit Key
security

Addressing 48 bit MAC 32 bit ID

Security of Bluetooth
 Security in Bluetooth is provided on the radio paths only
 Link authentication and encryption may be provided
 True end-to-end security relies on higher layer security
solutions on top of Bluetooth

 Bluetooth provides three security services

 Authentication – identity verification of communicating devices
 Confidentiality – against information compromise
 Authorization – access right of resources/services

 Fast FH together with link radio link power control provide

protection from eavesdropping and malicious access
 Fast FH makes it harder to lock the frequency
 Power control forces the adversary to be in relatively close
proximity
Security Modes (Authentication )

 Exchange Business Cards

 Needs a secret key
 A security manager controls access to services and to
devices
 Security mode 2 does not provide any security until a
channel has been established
 Key Generation from PIN
 PIN: 1-16 bytes. PINs are fixed and may be permanently
stored. Many users use the four digit 0000
Bluetooth Key Generation From PIN
 Bluetooth Initialization Procedure (Pairing)
 Creation of an initialization key (ki)

 Creation of a link key Authentication (ka)

Disadvantages (-)

• Short range (10 meters)

• Small throughput rates
- Data Rate 1.0 Mbps
• Mostly for personal use (PANs)
• Fairly Expensive
 Bluetooth’s Future

•The future of this technology becoming a standard is likely

•With a strong industry pushing behind it, success is inevitable.

•Bluetooth will soon be known as Bluetooth 2.2 as they are trying to

develop the product to better fulfill the needs of consumers
•Often, with new technology, early changes mean
reconstruction. Not With Bluetooth, instead, there will be
an improvement to the existing standard.
Thank you