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

A Survey on Wireless Sensor Network Security

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have recently attracted a lot of interest in the research community due their wide range of applications. Due to distributed nature of these networks and their deployment in remote areas, these networks are vulnerable to numerous security threats that can adversely affect their proper functioning. This problem is more critical if the network is deployed for some mission-critical applications such as in a tactical battlefield. Random failure of nodes is also very likely in real-life deployment scenarios. Due to resource constraints in the sensor nodes, traditional security mechanisms with large overhead of computation and communication are infeasible in WSNs. Security in sensor networks is, therefore, a particularly challenging task. This paper discusses the current state of the art in security mechanisms for WSNs. Various types of attacks are discussed and their countermeasures presented. A brief discussion on the future direction of research in WSN security is also included.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

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)

Defending against Sybil Devices in Crowdsourced Mapping Services

Real-time crowdsourced maps such as Waze provide timely updates on traffic, congestion, accidents and points of interest. In this paper, we demonstrate how lack of strong location authentication allows creation of software-based {\em Sybil devices} that expose crowdsourced map systems to a variety of security and privacy attacks. Our experiments show that a single Sybil device with limited resources can cause havoc on Waze, reporting false congestion and accidents and automatically rerouting user traffic. More importantly, we describe techniques to generate Sybil devices at scale, creating armies of virtual vehicles capable of remotely tracking precise movements for large user populations while avoiding detection. We propose a new approach to defend against Sybil devices based on {\em co-location edges}, authenticated records that attest to the one-time physical co-location of a pair of devices. Over time, co-location edges combine to form large {\em proximity graphs} that attest to physical interactions between devices, allowing scalable detection of virtual vehicles. We demonstrate the efficacy of this approach using large-scale simulations, and discuss how they can be used to dramatically reduce the impact of attacks against crowdsourced mapping services.Comment: Measure and integratio

Defense against Sybil attack in the initial deployment stage of vehicular ad hoc network based on roadside unit support

In this paper, we propose two certificate mechanisms for preventing the Sybil attack in a vehicular ad hoc network (VANET): the timestamp series approach and the temporary certificate approach. We focus on an early-stage VANET when the number of smart vehicles is only a small fraction of the vehicles on the road and the only infrastructure components available are the roadside units (RSUs). Our approach does not require a dedicated vehicular public key infrastructure to certify individual vehicles but RSUs are the only components issuing certificates. The vehicles can obtain certificates by simply driving by RSUs, without the need to pre-register at a certificate authority. The timestamp series approach exploits the fact that because of the variance of the movement patterns of the vehicles, it is extremely rare that the two vehicles pass by a series of RSUs at exactly the same time points. The vehicles obtain a series of certificates signed by the RSUs, which certify their passing by at the RSU at a certain time point. By exploiting the spatial and temporal correlation between vehicles and RSUs, we can detect the Sybil attack by checking the similarity of timestamp series. In the temporary certificate-based approach, an RSU issues temporary certificates valid only in a particular area for a limited time. To guarantee that each vehicle is assigned only a single certificate, at the issuance of the first certificate, it is required that the RSU physically authenticate the vehicle. When driving by the subsequent RSUs, however, the certificate can be updated in a chained manner. By guaranteeing that each vehicle is issued a single certificate in a single area, the Sybil attack is prevented. We provide mathematical analysis and simulation for the timestamp series approach. The simulation shows that it works with a small false-positive rate in simple roadway architecture