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Security feature in Bluetooth Protocol of nrf 8001

I have a module of nrf 8001 and i am successfully communicating with nrf 8001 low energy bluetooth chip. I want to know is there any security feature defined in the protocol of this chip. As i want that whenever a user wants to connect to peripheral through iPhone it must ask for a password before connecting like the normal bluetooth does. Is there any provision for this?

And can i pair any peripheral to iPhone like we do in normal bluetooth? And if it is then how?

Thanks

0 Ole Morten over 10 years ago

You can use a passkey with the nRF8001, as defined by the Core Specification. To do this, you must make sure to set the I/O capabilities to either have a Display or a Keyboard in nRFgo Studio, and then make sure that your application responds to the DisplayKeyEvent or the KeyRequestEvent.

You can take a look at the Core Specification, Volume 3, Part H, section 2.3.5.1 to see what kind of authentication method is used, based on the I/O capabilities of the devices bonding.

Beware that even when using a passkey, it's trivial for an eavesdropper listening in on the bonding to pick up the data of the packets. However, any eavesdropper that does not listen in on the bonding process will not be able to read data later, no matter if a passkey is used or not. A passkey only protects against active man-in-the-middle attacks.

Edit: Clarify in which specification.
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0 Saurabh Gulia over 10 years ago in reply to Ole Morten

What volume 3, Part H, section 2.3.5.1 to see?
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0 Ole Morten over 10 years ago in reply to Ole Morten

Sorry, I meant in the Bluetooth Core Specification. You can find that here: https://www.bluetooth.org/docman/handlers/downloaddoc.ashx?doc_id=229737
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0 Saurabh Gulia over 10 years ago in reply to Ole Morten

Actually what i want is that my module should only connect with one iPhone in every case. Suppose if any other iphone wants to connect with my peripheral(module) then it should not connect that iPhone or any other central device. How can i achieve this? How can check within nRF 8001 SDK that this is the authorised iPhone to which i can connect?

I have read in pdf that you gave to me, but i can't understand it fully. Can you just tell how can i address the above problem?
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0 David Edwin over 10 years ago

In the nRFgo studio XML file for the nRF8001, you can specify that you want to use a passkey. nRFgo studio -> nRF8001 configuration -> Security -> Device Security -> Security Required nRFgo studio -> nRF8001 configuration -> Security -> Required level of Security -> Authenticated (passkey)

Passkey means that you need either a display or a keyboard on the nRF8001 side. If you do not have a keyboard or display on the nRF8001 side, you should choose unauthenticated (Just Works) security. nRFgo studio -> nRF8001 configuration -> Security -> Required level of Security -> unauthenticated (Just Works)

This will allow the iPhone to pair with the nRF8001. Use the ble_proximity_template in the BLE SDK for Arduino to start with as an example.
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