CODEWITHSUNDEEP
bluetoothbluetooth-lowenergy
maze
maze

Reputation: 884

Which Bluetooth Security Mode to use?

I am wondering what is state of the art, when developing new products.

We are currently developing a new product and I have to decide, which bluetooth security mode to use. Value ranges from 1 to 4.

If I understand this right, mode 4 was introduced with bluetooth 2.1 and I ask myself, if there is a significant number of smart phones not supporting this.

Moreover we prepare our bluetooth certificaation with the PTS tool. This tool enforces using mode 4 if our device can to BR/EDR and BLE.

Is it state of the art to always enforce mode 4 in new devices?

Thank you.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 888

Answers (1)

Youssif Saeed
Youssif Saeed

Reputation: 13285

If you really want to use state of the art security mode in Bluetooth, then this would be "Secure Connections" for classic Bluetooth [1], and "LE Secure Connections" for Bluetooth Low Energy [2]. Secure Connections was introduced in Bluetooth v4.1 and LE Secure Connections was introduced in v4.2. This is the latest and greatest security mode, and it uses Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Cryptography for key calculation [3]. One of the key features of this mode is that if a device is paired over classic Bluetooth, there is no need to pair over LE as well, as a keys for both transports are generated during a single pairing procedure [4].

I hope this helps.

  1. Bluetooth Specification v5.0, Vol 0, Part C, Section 1.3: Core System Package.
  2. Bluetooth Specification v5.0, Vol 0, Part C, Section 1.3: Core System Package.
  3. Bluetooth Specification v5.0, Vol 1, Part A, Section 5.3: Secure Connections Only Mode.
  4. Bluetooth Specification v5.0, Vol 1, Part A, Section 5.6: Key Generation Between BR/EDR and LE Physical Transports.

Upvotes: 2

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