A highly resilient and zone-based key predistribution protocol for multiphase wireless sensor networks

Pairwise key distribution among the sensor nodes is an essential problem for providing security in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). The common approach for this problem is random key predistribution, which suffers from resiliency issues in case of node captures by adversaries. In the literature, the resiliency problem is addressed by zone-based deployment models that use prior deployment knowledge. Another remedy in the literature, which is for multiphase WSNs, aims to provide self-healing property via periodic deployments of sensor nodes with fresh keys over the sensor field. However, to the best of our knowledge, these two approaches have never been combined before in the literature. In this paper, we propose a zone-based key predistribution approach for multiphase WSNs. Our approach combines the best parts of these approaches and provides self-healing property with up to 9-fold more resiliency as compared to an existing scheme. Moreover, our scheme ensures almost 100% secure connectivity, which means a sensor node shares at least one key with almost all of its neighbors

Factors Impacting Key Management Effectiveness in Secured Wireless Networks

The use of a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) offers a cryptographic solution that can overcome many, but not all, of the MANET security problems. One of the most critical aspects of a PKI system is how well it implements Key Management. Key Management deals with key generation, key storage, key distribution, key updating, key revocation, and certificate service in accordance with security policies over the lifecycle of the cryptography. The approach supported by traditional PKI works well in fixed wired networks, but it may not appropriate for MANET due to the lack of fixed infrastructure to support the PKI. This research seeks to identify best practices in securing networks which may be applied to new network architectures