BAN-GZKP: Optimal Zero Knowledge Proof based Scheme for Wireless Body Area Networks

BANZKP is the best to date Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP) based secure lightweight and energy efficient authentication scheme designed for Wireless Area Network (WBAN). It is vulnerable to several security attacks such as the replay attack, Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks at sink and redundancy information crack. However, BANZKP needs an end-to-end authentication which is not compliant with the human body postural mobility. We propose a new scheme BAN-GZKP. Our scheme improves both the security and postural mobility resilience of BANZKP. Moreover, BAN-GZKP uses only a three-phase authentication which is optimal in the class of ZKP protocols. To fix the security vulnerabilities of BANZKP, BAN-GZKP uses a novel random key allocation and a Hop-by-Hop authentication definition. We further prove the reliability of our scheme to various attacks including those to which BANZKP is vulnerable. Furthermore, via extensive simulations we prove that our scheme, BAN-GZKP, outperforms BANZKP in terms of reliability to human body postural mobility for various network parameters (end-to-end delay, number of packets exchanged in the network, number of transmissions). We compared both schemes using representative convergecast strategies with various transmission rates and human postural mobility. Finally, it is important to mention that BAN-GZKP has no additional cost compared to BANZKP in terms memory, computational complexity or energy consumption

A Search Strategy of Level-Based Flooding for the Internet of Things

This paper deals with the query problem in the Internet of Things (IoT). Flooding is an important query strategy. However, original flooding is prone to cause heavy network loads. To address this problem, we propose a variant of flooding, called Level-Based Flooding (LBF). With LBF, the whole network is divided into several levels according to the distances (i.e., hops) between the sensor nodes and the sink node. The sink node knows the level information of each node. Query packets are broadcast in the network according to the levels of nodes. Upon receiving a query packet, sensor nodes decide how to process it according to the percentage of neighbors that have processed it. When the target node receives the query packet, it sends its data back to the sink node via random walk. We show by extensive simulations that the performance of LBF in terms of cost and latency is much better than that of original flooding, and LBF can be used in IoT of different scales

Resilient networking in wireless sensor networks

This report deals with security in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), especially in network layer. Multiple secure routing protocols have been proposed in the literature. However, they often use the cryptography to secure routing functionalities. The cryptography alone is not enough to defend against multiple attacks due to the node compromise. Therefore, we need more algorithmic solutions. In this report, we focus on the behavior of routing protocols to determine which properties make them more resilient to attacks. Our aim is to find some answers to the following questions. Are there any existing protocols, not designed initially for security, but which already contain some inherently resilient properties against attacks under which some portion of the network nodes is compromised? If yes, which specific behaviors are making these protocols more resilient? We propose in this report an overview of security strategies for WSNs in general, including existing attacks and defensive measures. In this report we focus at the network layer in particular, and an analysis of the behavior of four particular routing protocols is provided to determine their inherent resiliency to insider attacks. The protocols considered are: Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), Gradient-Based Routing (GBR), Greedy Forwarding (GF) and Random Walk Routing (RWR)

STiCMAC: A MAC Protocol for Robust Space-Time Coding in Cooperative Wireless LANs

Relay-assisted cooperative wireless communication has been shown to have significant performance gains over the legacy direct transmission scheme. Compared with single relay based cooperation schemes, utilizing multiple relays further improves the reliability and rate of transmissions. Distributed space-time coding (DSTC), as one of the schemes to utilize multiple relays, requires tight coordination between relays and does not perform well in a distributed environment with mobility. In this paper, a cooperative medium access control (MAC) layer protocol, called \emph{STiCMAC}, is designed to allow multiple relays to transmit at the same time in an IEEE 802.11 network. The transmission is based on a novel DSTC scheme called \emph{randomized distributed space-time coding} (\emph{R-DSTC}), which requires minimum coordination. Unlike conventional cooperation schemes that pick nodes with good links, \emph{STiCMAC} picks a \emph{transmission mode} that could most improve the end-to-end data rate. Any station that correctly receives from the source can act as a relay and participate in forwarding. The MAC protocol is implemented in a fully decentralized manner and is able to opportunistically recruit relays on the fly, thus making it \emph{robust} to channel variations and user mobility. Simulation results show that the network capacity and delay performance are greatly improved, especially in a mobile environment.Comment: This paper is a revised version of a paper with the same name submitted to IEEE Transaction on Wireless Communications. STiCMAC protocol with RTS/CTS turned off is presented in the appendix of this draf