The International Journal of Engineering and Science (IJES) || Volume || 8 || Issue || 8 Series II || Pages || PP 88-94 || 2019 || ISSN (e): 2319 – 1813 ISSN (p): 23-19 – 1805 DOI:10.9790/1813-0808028894 www.theijes.com Page 88 Securing Data on Transmission from Man-In-The-Middle Attacks Using Diffie Hell-Man Key Exchange Encryption Mechanism Karim Usman 1 , Patrick Obilikwu 2 , Kadiri Patrick 3 and Risikatu Karim 4 1 Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Benue State University, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria 2 Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Benue State University, Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria 3 Department of Computer Science, Nigerian Army Institute of Technology and Environmental Studies, Makurdi, Nigeria 4 Software Development Unit, Kreative Information Technology Nigeria Limited Corresponding Author: Karim Usman ----------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT--------------------------------------------------------- In a world that relies progressively on electronic information and online transactions, a large volume of data is transmitted over the internet on a daily bases. Cyber threats and attacks are steadily increasing. There is, however, a major threat posed by Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks in trying to establish an effective and safe communication line. Most time, these threats and attacks from MITM are targeted at the channel of the transaction to intercept and manipulate vital information being transmitted to a legitimate user. More so for private, confidential, and vital information, the need to secure these data on transmission over the Internet is now a necessity and cannot be overstated. Cryptography is the key method of protecting data and information in a computer system. Today's cryptosystems are divided into two categories: symmetric and asymmetric. The difference lies in the keys used in decryption and encryption. While symmetric cryptography uses the same key for both processes, asymmetric cryptography uses one key (public key) to encrypt data and a different key (private key) to decrypt it. The Diffie Hellman key exchange (DHKE) encryption is one of the renowned asymmetric algorithms, developed by Whitfield Diffie and Martin Hellman in 1976. The DHKE encryption is implemented in the proposed system such that even when MITM can intercept data on transmission, it ensures that the integrity and confidentiality of the data remain intact. The proposed system is capable of encrypting a message and generate the secret key, and while the encrypted message is on transit, the system automatically sends the secret key to the phone number of the legitimate receiver. Therefore, the objectives of this work are; (1) To enhance the confidentiality of transmitted data. (2) To improve the integrity of transmitted data. (3) To ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data on transmission by the implementation of DHKE encryption mechanism. The system developed is highly compatible with MYSQL. Structured System Analysis and Design Methodology (SSADM) was used to design the system while Java Enterprise Edition (JEE) and JBOSS were used to develop a prototype for the proposed system. The system was well tested and the outputs were relatively good. KEYWORDS- Cryptosystems, DHKE, MITM, Encryption, SSADM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 28-08-2019 Date of acceptance: 13-09-2019 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I INTRODUCTION In a world that relies increasingly on electronic information, data security is more important than ever. Many of the functions of our business and personal life now rely on computers, mobile devices, and the Internet and there's a lot of data out there to protect. As a large amount of data is transmitted over the network, it is preliminary to secure all types of data before sending them [1]. There is, however, a major hindrance in trying to establish an effective and safe communication line: an outside user, not intended to be a part of the connection, might try to steal the information being passed to a legitimate user. Thus, having an internal control mechanism to assure the confidentiality, integrity, non-repudiation, and entity reputation of data in a distributed environment is of paramount importance [2]. Information on transit needs to be protected from being intercepted and accessed by an unauthorized person(s). This phenomenon is referred to as data confidentiality. Data integrity is when there is an absence of any form of alteration on data passing over an unsecured channel from intruders or unauthorized individual. To ensure that the sender of a message is the sender data origin authentication is used. The goal of non-repudiation is to make it able for the receiver to document that the message is sent from the sender, while entity reputation convinces the participants of each other’s identity [3].