An Efficient Solution to the ARP Cache Poisoning Problem

ARP cache poisoning is a long standing problem which is known to be difficult to solve without compromising efficiency. The cause of this problem is the absence of authentication of the mapping between IP addresses and MAC addresses. Due to lack of the required authentication, any host on the LAN can forge an ARP reply containing malicious IP to MAC address mapping causing ARP cache poisoning. In fact, there are a number of tools freely available on the internet using which, even a newbie can launch such an attack. In this paper, we present a new cryptographic technique to make ARP secure and provide protection against ARP cache poisoning. Our technique is based on the combination of digital signatures and one time passwords based on hash chains. This hybrid system prevents the ARP cache poisoning attack while maintaining a good system performance at the same time.