LEE: Light‐Weight Energy‐Efficient encryption algorithm for sensor networks

Data confidentiality in wireless sensor networks is mainly achieved by RC5 and Skipjack encryption algorithms. However, both algorithms have their weaknesses, for example RC5 supports variable-bit rotations, which are computationally expensive operations and Skipjack uses a key length of 80-bits, which is subject to brute force attack. In this paper we introduce a light-weight energy- fficient encryption-algorithm (LEE) for tiny embedded devices, such as sensor network nodes. We present experimental results of LEE under real sensor nodes operating in TinyOS. We also discuss the secrecy of our algorithm by presenting a security analysis of various tests and cryptanalytic attacks

KLEIN: A New Family of Lightweight Block Ciphers

Resource-efficient cryptographic primitives become fundamental for realizing both security and efficiency in embedded systems like RFID tags and sensor nodes. Among those primitives, lightweight block cipher plays a major role as a building block for security protocols. In this paper, we describe a new family of lightweight block ciphers named KLEIN, which is designed for resource-constrained devices such as wireless sensors and RFID tags. Compared to the related proposals, KLEIN has advantage in the software performance on legacy sensor platforms, while in the same time its hardware implementation can also be compact

A secure over-the-air programming scheme in wireless sensor networks

Over-The-Air dissemination of code updates in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have been researchers’ point of interest in past a few years and more importantly security challenges toward remote propagation of code update have taken the majority of efforts in this context. Many security models have been proposed to establish a balance between the energy consumption and security strengthen with having their concentration on constraint nature of WSN nodes. For authentication purposes most of them have used Merkle-Hash-Tree to avoid using multiple public cryptography operations. These models mostly have assumed an environment in which security has to be in a standard level and therefore they have not investigated the tree structure for mission-critical situations in which security has to be in maximum possible extent (e.g. military zones). Two major problems have been identified in Merkle Tree structure which is used in Seluge scheme, including: 1) an exponential growth in number of overhead packets when block size of hash algorithm used in design is increased. 2) Limitation of using hash algorithms with larger block size of 11 bytes when payload size is set to 72 bytes. Then several existing security models are investigated for possible vulnerabilities and a set of countermeasures correspondingly named Security Model Requirements (SMR) is provided. After concentrating on Seluge’s design, a new secure Over-The-Air Programming (OTAP) scheme named Seluge++ is proposed that complies with SMR and replaces the use of inefficient Merkle Tree with a novel method

Survey and Benchmark of Block Ciphers for Wireless Sensor Networks

Cryptographic algorithms play an important role in the security architecture of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Choosing the most storage- and energy-efficient block cipher is essential, due to the facts that these networks are meant to operate without human intervention for a long period of time with little energy supply, and that available storage is scarce on these sensor nodes. However, to our knowledge, no systematic work has been done in this area so far.We construct an evaluation framework in which we first identify the candidates of block ciphers suitable for WSNs, based on existing literature and authoritative recommendations. For evaluating and assessing these candidates, we not only consider the security properties but also the storage- and energy-efficiency of the candidates. Finally, based on the evaluation results, we select the most suitable ciphers for WSNs, namely Skipjack, MISTY1, and Rijndael, depending on the combination of available memory and required security (energy efficiency being implicit). In terms of operation mode, we recommend Output Feedback Mode for pairwise links but Cipher Block Chaining for group communications

Securing Data Transfers: An Integrity Algorithm for Error Recovery Triangulation

Transferring data is one of the key operations performed by millions of users every day. Users do this by issuing direct commands, such as file transfer commands, or indirectly as a feature invoked by numerous end-user applications. The most important security characteristic of a successful data exchange is the integrity of that data. The receiver user desires to acquire data that has not been modified through malicious acts, or simple human or machine error. Applications that rely on the Transfer Control Protocol (TCP) as the main mechanism to provide end-to-end reliability, including error and sequence control, do not check the integrity of the file being transmitted prior to the transfer. In this paper, we present an overview of current data transfer mechanisms and their security provisions and propose an internal integrity mechanism that provides a triangulation means of error control through the use of one-way hash functions based on the original file being transferred; and a discussion of the implications and limitations that such a mechanism imparts on data transfer mechanisms

The block cipher NSABC (public domain)

We introduce NSABC/w -- Nice-Structured Algebraic Block Cipher using w-bit word arithmetic, a 4w-bit analogous of Skipjack [NSA98] with 5w-bit key. The Skipjack's internal 4-round Feistel structure is replaced with a w-bit, 2-round cascade of a binary operation (x,z)\mapsto(x\boxdot z)\lll(w/2) that permutes a text word x under control of a key word z. The operation \boxdot, similarly to the multiplication in IDEA [LM91, LMM91], bases on an algebraic group over w-bit words, so it is also capable of decrypting by means of the inverse element of z in the group. The cipher utilizes a secret 4w-bit tweak -- an easily changeable parameter with unique value for each block encrypted under the same key [LRW02] -- that is derived from the block index and an additional 4w -bit key. A software implementation for w=64 takes circa 9 clock cycles per byte on x86-64 processors.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure

A Survey of Access Control Models in Wireless Sensor Networks

Copyright 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have attracted considerable interest in the research community, because of their wide range of applications. However, due to the distributed nature of WSNs and their deployment in remote areas, these networks are vulnerable to numerous security threats that can adversely affect their proper functioning. Resource constraints in sensor nodes mean that security mechanisms with a large overhead of computation and communication are impractical to use in WSNs; security in sensor networks is, therefore, a challenge. Access control is a critical security service that offers the appropriate access privileges to legitimate users and prevents illegitimate users from unauthorized access. However, access control has not received much attention in the context of WSNs. This paper provides an overview of security threats and attacks, outlines the security requirements and presents a state-of-the-art survey on access control models, including a comparison and evaluation based on their characteristics in WSNs. Potential challenging issues for access control schemes in WSNs are also discussed.Peer reviewe