Ultra-Wideband Location Authentication for Item Tracking

International safeguards is increasingly utilizing unattended and remote monitoring methods to improve inspector efficiency and the timeliness of diversion detection. Item identification and tracking has been proposed as one unattended remote monitoring method, and a number of radio-frequency (RF) technologies have been proposed. When utilizing location information for verification purposes, strong assurance of the authenticity of the reported location is required, but most commercial RF systems are vulnerable to a variety of spoofing and relay attacks. ORNL has developed a distance bounding method that uses ultra-wideband technology to provide strong assurance of item location. This distance bounding approach can be coupled with strong symmetric key authentication methods to provide a fully authenticable tracking system that is resistant to both spoofing and relay attacks. This paper will discuss the overall problems associated with RF tracking including the common spoofing and relay attack scenarios, the ORNL distance bounding approach for authenticating location, and the potential applications for this technology.