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

Security in Wireless Sensor Networks

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

Security in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) pose a new challenge to network designers in the area of developing better and secure routing protocols. Many sensor networks have mission-critical tasks, so it is clear that security needs to be taken into account at design time. However, sensor networks are not traditional computing devices, and as a result, existing security models and methods are ill suited. The security issues posed by sensor networks represent a rich field of research problems. Improving network hardware and software may address many of the issues, but others will require new supporting technologies. With the recent surge in the use of sensor networks, for example, in ubiquitous computing and body sensor networks (BSNs) the need for security mechanisms has a more important role. Recently proposed solutions address but a small subset of current sensor network attacks. Also because of the special battery requirements for such networks, normal cryptographic network solutions are irrelevant. New mechanisms need to be developed to address this type of network

Security threats on wireless sensor network protocols

In this paper, we investigate security issues and challenges facing researchers in wireless sensor networks and countermeasures to resolve them. The broadcast nature of wireless communication makes Wireless Sensor Networks prone to various attacks. Due to resources limitation constraint in terms of limited energy, computation power and memory, security in wireless sensor networks creates different challenges than wired network security. We will discuss several attempts at addressing the issues of security in wireless sensor networks in an attempt to encourage more research into this area

Energy-free Security in Wireless Sensor Networks

International audienceWireless sensor networks are often deployed in open and uncontrolled environments that make them more vulnerable to security attacks. Cryptographic algorithms can be used to protect the data collected by the sensors against an intruder. The cost in terms of energy to provide enough security can be quite large as these algorithms may be very complex. As communication is the main energy consumer, a way to save energy is to use data compression. We propose to measure the impact of the well-known DES algorithm on the energy consumption for various number of rounds and then, we show that energy-free security may be possible. We combine a cryptographic algorithm with a compression algorithm and show through a model that a node can provide security without consuming more energy. The only counterpart is the time for ciphering and compressing. We get some results from experiments on energy consumption of cryptographic and compression algorithms and establish the level of security that can be achieved in various cases, from a single node to a random network

Security in Wireless Sensor Networks Employing MACGSP6

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have unique characteristics which constrain them; including small energy stores, limited computation, and short range communication capability. Most traditional security algorithms use cryptographic primitives such as Public-key cryptography and are not optimized for energy usage. Employing these algorithms for the security of WSNs is often not practical. At the same time, the need for security in WSNs is unavoidable. Applications such as military, medical care, structural monitoring, and surveillance systems require information security in the network. As current security mechanisms for WSNs are not sufficient, development of new security schemes for WSNs is necessary. New security schemes may be able to take advantage of the unique properties of WSNs, such as the large numbers of nodes typical in these networks to mitigate the need for cryptographic algorithms and key distribution and management. However, taking advantage of these properties must be done in an energy efficient manner. The research examines how the redundancy in WSNs can provide some security elements. The research shows how multiple random delivery paths (MRDPs) can provide data integrity for WSNs. Second, the research employs multiple sinks to increase the total number of duplicate packets received by sinks, allowing sink voting to mitigate the packet discard rate issue of a WSN with a single sink. Third, the research examines the effectiveness of using multiple random paths in maintaining data confidentiality in WSNs. Last, the research examines the use of a rate limit to cope with packet flooding attacks in WSNs

Security in Wireless Sensor Networks

Tato práce pojednává o návrhu simulačního modelu bezdrátové senzorové sítě v prostředí Castalia se zaměřením na energetickou spotřebu senzorových uzlů za použití komunikačních jednotek Mica2 a MicaZ. Popisuje základní práci se simulačním programem Castalia včetně jeho instalace. Dále pojednává o zabezpečení bezdrátových senzorových sítí a o návrhu jejich zabezpečení.This bachelor thesis deals with the proposal of simulation model for wireless sensor networks in program Castalia with a focus on energy consumption of sensor nodes using the communication units Mica2 and MicaZ. It describes the basic work with simulation program Castalia, including its installation. Furthermore, deals with the security of wireless sensor networks and theirs security proposal.

Security in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor network (WSN) is an emerging important research area. The variety in and number of applications is growing in wireless sensor networks. These wireless sensor nodes are tiny devices with limited energy, memory, transmission range, and computational power. Because WSNs in general and in nature are unattended and physically reachable from the outside world, they could be vulnerable to physical attacks in the form of node capture or node destruction. These forms of attacks are hard to protect against and require intelligent prevention methods. It is necessary for WSNs to have security measures in place as to prevent an intruder from inserting compromised nodes in order to decimate or disturb the network performance. Intrusion detection in wireless sensor networks is a much needed security measure. In this thesis we present an intrusion detection framework for wireless sensor networks which does not require prior knowledge of network behavior or a learning period in order to establish this knowledge. We have taken a more practical approach and constructed this framework with small to middle-size networks in mind, like home or office networks. The proposed framework is also dynamic in nature as to cope with new and unknown attack types. This framework is intended to protect the network and ensure reliable and accurate aggregated sensor readings. Theoretical simulation results indicate that compromised nodes can be detected with high accuracy and low false alarm probability when as much as 25% compromised nodes is present in the network. Theoretical simulation results regarding data aggregation indicates that compromised nodes will be limited in their influence on the aggregated data even with as much as 40% compromised nodes in the network. We have only simulated the framework theoretically in a mathematics program and evaluated the theoretical properties of the algorithms. The results are promising and the framework should be simulated in a network simulator for further evaluation

An Outline of Security in Wireless Sensor Networks: Threats, Countermeasures and Implementations

With the expansion of wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the need for securing the data flow through these networks is increasing. These sensor networks allow for easy-to-apply and flexible installations which have enabled them to be used for numerous applications. Due to these properties, they face distinct information security threats. Security of the data flowing through across networks provides the researchers with an interesting and intriguing potential for research. Design of these networks to ensure the protection of data faces the constraints of limited power and processing resources. We provide the basics of wireless sensor network security to help the researchers and engineers in better understanding of this applications field. In this chapter, we will provide the basics of information security with special emphasis on WSNs. The chapter will also give an overview of the information security requirements in these networks. Threats to the security of data in WSNs and some of their counter measures are also presented