Quantifying Eavesdropping Vulnerability in Sensor Networks

With respect to security, sensor networks have a number of considerations that separate them from traditional distributed systems. First, sensor devices are typically vulnerable to physical compromise. Second, they have significant power and processing constraints. Third, the most critical security issue is protecting the (statistically derived) aggregate output of the system, even if individual nodes may be compromised. We suggest that these considerations merit a rethinking of traditional security techniques: rather than depending on the resilience of cryptographic techniques, in this paper we develop new techniques to tolerate compromised nodes and to even mislead an adversary. We present our initial work on probabilistically quantifying the security of sensor network protocols, with respect to sensor data distributions and network topologies. Beginning with a taxonomy of attacks based on an adversary’s goals, we focus on how to evaluate the vulnerability of sensor network protocols to eavesdropping. Different topologies and aggregation functions provide different probabilistic guarantees about system security, and make different trade-offs in power and accuracy

Towards wireless technology for safety critical systems.

Wireless technology provides an unprecedented level of design flexibility for new system designs and legacy system updates. However, there are several challenges which present themselves when adopting wireless technologies for use in safety systems. This paper elaborates on available design techniques which can resolve the implementation issues for a given application, to ensure data communication between nodes is safe (deterministic), secure, reliable and available.N/

Sensor Network Security: More Interesting Than You Think

With the advent of low-power wireless sensor networks, a wealth of new applications at the interface of the real and digital worlds is emerging. A distributed computing platform that can measure properties of the real world, formulate intelligent inferences, and instrument responses, requires strong foundations in distributed computing, artificial intelligence, databases, control theory, and security. Before these intelligent systems can be deployed in critical infrastructures such as emergency rooms and powerplants, the security properties of sensors must be fully understood. Existing wisdom has been to apply the traditional security models and techniques to sensor networks. However, sensor networks are not traditional computing devices, and as a result, existing security models and methods are ill suited. In this position paper, we take the first steps towards producing a comprehensive security model that is tailored for sensor networks. Incorporating work from Internet security, ubiquitous computing, and distributed systems, we outline security properties that must be considered when designing a secure sensor network. We propose challenges for sensor networks – security obstacles that, when overcome, will move us closer to decreasing the divide between computers and the physical world

Principles of Physical Layer Security in Multiuser Wireless Networks: A Survey

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the domain of physical layer security in multiuser wireless networks. The essential premise of physical-layer security is to enable the exchange of confidential messages over a wireless medium in the presence of unauthorized eavesdroppers without relying on higher-layer encryption. This can be achieved primarily in two ways: without the need for a secret key by intelligently designing transmit coding strategies, or by exploiting the wireless communication medium to develop secret keys over public channels. The survey begins with an overview of the foundations dating back to the pioneering work of Shannon and Wyner on information-theoretic security. We then describe the evolution of secure transmission strategies from point-to-point channels to multiple-antenna systems, followed by generalizations to multiuser broadcast, multiple-access, interference, and relay networks. Secret-key generation and establishment protocols based on physical layer mechanisms are subsequently covered. Approaches for secrecy based on channel coding design are then examined, along with a description of inter-disciplinary approaches based on game theory and stochastic geometry. The associated problem of physical-layer message authentication is also introduced briefly. The survey concludes with observations on potential research directions in this area.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, 303 refs. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1303.1609 by other authors. IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, 201

Security Threats and Challenges for Wireless Sensor Network

A wireless sensor network is a network of a large number of independently working small sensing units which can communicate wirelessly. The basic plan of a Wireless sensor network (WSN) is to structural distribute self-determining devices using sensors to monitor physical or environmental conditions. Wireless communication technology performance different forms of security threats. WSN need effective security mechanisms because of these networks deployed in untended environments. Due to fixed limitations in wireless sensor networks, security is a crucial issue. The intent of this paper is to investigate the security-related threats and challenges in wireless sensor networks. The threats faced by this WSN are similar but not limited to those observed in a simple network of computers or Internet.We identify thesensorsecuritythreats, review proposed security mechanisms for wireless sensor networks

A Survey on Wireless Security: Technical Challenges, Recent Advances and Future Trends

This paper examines the security vulnerabilities and threats imposed by the inherent open nature of wireless communications and to devise efficient defense mechanisms for improving the wireless network security. We first summarize the security requirements of wireless networks, including their authenticity, confidentiality, integrity and availability issues. Next, a comprehensive overview of security attacks encountered in wireless networks is presented in view of the network protocol architecture, where the potential security threats are discussed at each protocol layer. We also provide a survey of the existing security protocols and algorithms that are adopted in the existing wireless network standards, such as the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and the long-term evolution (LTE) systems. Then, we discuss the state-of-the-art in physical-layer security, which is an emerging technique of securing the open communications environment against eavesdropping attacks at the physical layer. We also introduce the family of various jamming attacks and their counter-measures, including the constant jammer, intermittent jammer, reactive jammer, adaptive jammer and intelligent jammer. Additionally, we discuss the integration of physical-layer security into existing authentication and cryptography mechanisms for further securing wireless networks. Finally, some technical challenges which remain unresolved at the time of writing are summarized and the future trends in wireless security are discussed.Comment: 36 pages. Accepted to Appear in Proceedings of the IEEE, 201

Securing Data in Transit using Two Channel Communication

Securing data in transit is critically important to the Department of Defense in todays contested environments. While encryption is often the preferred method to provide security, there exist applications for which encryption is too resource intensive, not cost-effective or simply not available. In this thesis, a two-channel communication system is proposed in which the message being sent can be intelligently and dynamically split over two or more channels to provide a measure of data security either when encryption is not available, or perhaps in addition to encryption. This data spiting technique employs multiple wireless channels operating at the physical layer, allowing traditional layers above to run seamlessly over it. Eight data splitting policies are developed with preliminary evaluation of their effectiveness in combating three common cyber security threat scenarios to include eavesdropping, jamming and man-in-the-middle attacks. These policies are then implemented in a simple proof-of-concept communication system simulation. Moreover, a framework is proposed for measuring and classifying the level of integrity, confidentiality and availability that is provided by each policy. While additional discussions present and evaluate potential packet structure, more possibilities for dynamic tunability of the developed policies and any potential vulnerabilities introduced by these data splitting schemes. Lastly, a simulation test-bed is constructed to allow for implementation and testing of future policies. These data splitting techniques could provide additional options to increase data-in-transit security for unencrypted systems operating in contested environments

Development of a Security-Focused Multi-Channel Communication Protocol and Associated Quality of Secure Service (QoSS) Metrics

The threat of eavesdropping, and the challenge of recognizing and correcting for corrupted or suppressed information in communication systems is a consistent challenge. Effectively managing protection mechanisms requires an ability to accurately gauge the likelihood or severity of a threat, and adapt the security features available in a system to mitigate the threat. This research focuses on the design and development of a security-focused communication protocol at the session-layer based on a re-prioritized communication architecture model and associated metrics. From a probabilistic model that considers data leakage and data corruption as surrogates for breaches of confidentiality and integrity, a set of metrics allows the direct and repeatable quantification of the security available in single- or multi-channel networks. The quantification of security is based directly upon the probabilities that adversarial listeners and malicious disruptors are able to gain access to or change the original message. Fragmenting data across multiple channels demonstrates potential improvements to confidentiality, while duplication improves the integrity of the data against disruptions. Finally, the model and metrics are exercised in simulation. The ultimate goal is to minimize the information available to adversaries

Security risk assessment in cloud computing domains

Cyber security is one of the primary concerns persistent across any computing platform. While addressing the apprehensions about security risks, an infinite amount of resources cannot be invested in mitigation measures since organizations operate under budgetary constraints. Therefore the task of performing security risk assessment is imperative to designing optimal mitigation measures, as it provides insight about the strengths and weaknesses of different assets affiliated to a computing platform. The objective of the research presented in this dissertation is to improve upon existing risk assessment frameworks and guidelines associated to different key assets of Cloud computing domains - infrastructure, applications, and users. The dissertation presents various informal approaches of performing security risk assessment which will help to identify the security risks confronted by the aforementioned assets, and utilize the results to carry out the required cost-benefit tradeoff analyses. This will be beneficial to organizations by aiding them in better comprehending the security risks their assets are exposed to and thereafter secure them by designing cost-optimal mitigation measures --Abstract, page iv