Secure Authentication Protocol for Drones in LTE Networks

As LTE networks account for more than 50% of GSM subscribers in 2020, drone pilots have used LTE for communication with drones. The pilots could operate the drones in large spaces, and the possibility of using drones has spontaneously increased in various industries with LTE. If a malicious adversary exploits the leakage of the IMSI of drones, which existed as a security threat in the LTE networks, it may be vulnerable to the location privacy and security of the drone. In this paper, we define the architecture of drones using LTE networks, and show that the plaintext IMSI leaks out of LTE networks. Later, while using the LTE network, we explain that the leakage of IMSI poses a threat to drone location privacy and security. Next, we propose a protocol for the drone authentication in LTE that would improve the security of drones, especially related to location privacy. Finally, we formally specify the proposed authentication protocol and verify that the proposed protocol satisfies the security properties by using the protocol verification tool Scyther.