KALwEN+: Practical Key Management Schemes for Gossip-Based Wireless Medical Sensor Networks

The constrained resources of sensors restrict the design of a key management scheme for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In this work, we first formalize the security model of ALwEN, which is a gossip-based wireless medical sensor network (WMSN) for ambient assisted living. Our security model considers the node capture, the gossip-based network and the revocation problems, which should be valuable for ALwEN-like applications. Based on Shamir's secret sharing technique, we then propose two key management schemes for ALwEN, namely the KALwEN+ schemes, which are proven with the security properties defined in the security model. The KALwEN+ schemes not only fit ALwEN, but also can be tailored to other scalable wireless sensor networks based on gossiping

On the Conjunction of Network Security Requirements and Clustering: a New Framework for Reliable and Energy-efficient Communication

Several perspectives of network security and energy efficiency were investigated and a scheme is proposed for each. A new approach is introduced to enhance communication security among nodes based on the threshold secret sharing technique and traditional symmetric key management. In the proposed scheme, key distribution is online, which means key management is conducted whenever a message needs to be communicated.The cost and security analyses of the proposed scheme showed that its use enhances communication security among the nodes in networks that operate in hostile environments compared to related work. Another aspect of security is the storage and retrieval of data in energy-sensitive networks. The proposed scheme aims to provide an energy-efficient and secure in-network storage and retrieval protocol that could be applied to Wireless Sensor Networks. A predictive method is also proposed to adaptively instantiate the appropriate parameters for the threshold secret sharing technique. Simulations were utilized to illustrate the effect of several network parameters on energy consumption and to come up with optimal value recommendations for the parameters of the proposed secret sharing scheme. Analysis and experimentation showed that, by using the proposed technique, the confidentiality, dependability, and integrity of the sensed data are enhanced with fairly low communicational and computational overhead.Collaborating for in-network processing is another issue (along with security) that is a concern for energy-sensitive networks. This part of the proposed framework concerns introducing a new clustering algorithm to enhance the efficiency of resource assignment for the purpose of assigning just enough components to each service-requesting application while minimizing the overall distances among the cooperating components. The proposed algorithm groups the components of a network into different-size clusters and results in a clustered network in which most of the components in a cluster, which provides service to an application, are busy.Computer Scienc

A Key Establishment Scheme for Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks Using Post-Deployment Knowledge

Establishment of pairwise keys between sensor nodes in a sensor network is a difficult problem due to resource limitations of sensor nodes as well as vulnerability to physical captures of sensor nodes by the enemy. Public-key cryptosystems are not much suited for most resource-constrained sensor networks. Recently, elliptic curve cryptographic techniques show that public key cryptosystem is also feasible for resource-constrained sensor networks. However, most researchers accept that the symmetric key cryptosystems are viable options for resource-constrained sensor networks. In this paper, we first develop a basic principle to address the key pre-distribution problem in mobile sensor networks. Then, using this developed basic principle, we propose a scheme which takes the advantage of the post-deployment knowledge. Our scheme is a modified version of the key prioritization technique proposed by Liu and Ning. Our improved scheme provides reasonable network connectivity and security. Moreover, the proposed scheme works for any deployment topology.Comment: Published in International Journal of Computer Networks & Communications (IJCNC) Vol.3, No.4, July 201

KALwEN: a new practical and interoperable key management scheme for body sensor networks

Key management is the pillar of a security architecture. Body sensor networks (BSNs) pose several challenges–some inherited from wireless sensor networks (WSNs), some unique to themselves–that require a new key management scheme to be tailor-made. The challenge is taken on, and the result is KALwEN, a new parameterized key management scheme that combines the best-suited cryptographic techniques in a seamless framework. KALwEN is user-friendly in the sense that it requires no expert knowledge of a user, and instead only requires a user to follow a simple set of instructions when bootstrapping or extending a network. One of KALwEN's key features is that it allows sensor devices from different manufacturers, which expectedly do not have any pre-shared secret, to establish secure communications with each other. KALwEN is decentralized, such that it does not rely on the availability of a local processing unit (LPU). KALwEN supports secure global broadcast, local broadcast, and local (neighbor-to-neighbor) unicast, while preserving past key secrecy and future key secrecy (FKS). The fact that the cryptographic protocols of KALwEN have been formally verified also makes a convincing case. With both formal verification and experimental evaluation, our results should appeal to theorists and practitioners alike

Security in Wireless Sensor Networks: Issues and Challenges

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is an emerging technology that shows great promise for various futuristic applications both for mass public and military. The sensing technology combined with processing power and wireless communication makes it lucrative for being exploited in abundance in future. The inclusion of wireless communication technology also incurs various types of security threats. The intent of this paper is to investigate the security related issues and challenges in wireless sensor networks. We identify the security threats, review proposed security mechanisms for wireless sensor networks. We also discuss the holistic view of security for ensuring layered and robust security in wireless sensor networks.Comment: 6 page