Self-Sovereign Identity Management in Ship-Based 5G-Devices Use Case
Peter B. Foytik, Safdar Hussain Bouk, Gustave W. Anderson, Sachin S. Shetty · 2024
This paper takes a view on the identity management system in 5G using self-sovereign identity (SSI) solutions. It focuses on the use case of quasi-static and mobile devices that require a good connection on an isolated ship. The identities need to be self-managed when the ship is disconnected at sea, and the newly created identities need to be resolved when the ship regains connection. An overview of the decentralized / distributed identity management in 5G along with the call flows is presented in this paper. Furthermore, we highlight its impact on the large-scale device identity management process and its interoperability with minimum alterations in the current 5G identity management system. This work explores the security benefits of the decentralized property of SSI and measures the performance difference in merging identities with disconnected parts of the system. The results focus on three main measures of 5G identity management systems that include control overhead, verification delay, and identity reconciliation. The paper presents the costs/benefits to the SSI solution compared to centralized identity management systems.