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1 Security Issues, Vulnerabilities, and Defense Mechanisms in Wireless Sensor Networks: State of the Art and Recommendation
N. Rahimi and B. Gupta
Southern Illinois University
CONTENTS
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Applications of WSNs
1.3 Threats and Challenges
1.4 Taxonomy of WSN Attacks
1.4.1 Attacks Based on the Capability of the Attacker
1.4.2 Attacks on Information in Transit
1.4.3 Host-Based Versus Network-Based Attacks
1.4.4 Attacks Based on Protocol Stack
1.5 Passive Attack
1.6 Active Attack
1.7 Objectives of Network Security
1.7.1 Primary Objectives
1.7.2 Secondary Objectives
1.8 New Defense Mechanisms
1.8.1 Algorithm Strength Analysis
1.8.2 Length of Ciphertext
1.9 Conclusion
References
1.1 Introduction
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are infrastructure-less and auto-configured wireless networks designed to observe or monitor physical conditions such as environmental factors including pressure, temperature, pollutants, and sound, among others, and to collaboratively pass individual data across the network to a base station (BS) while such data can be monitored and examined [1,2]. A typical WSN may consist of several thousands of sensor nodes with individual nodes relying on radio signals to communicate among themselves. The BS, also denoted as a sink, provides a link between the network and its authorized users. Such users can access or retrieve data from the WSN by entering search queries and retrieving results as generated by the BS. The aforementioned wireless sensor nodes possess power components, sensing and computing devices, and radio transceivers that allow them to perform these functions. In some instances, wireless sensor devices can acknowledge to input entered from a control site with instructions to perform determined functions such as providing information on a particular condition. However, with each technological innovation or advancement, such as the WSN discussed above, there is equal development of threats to such technological inventions. Subsequently, while WSNs are critical components in health care, military, and environmental applications, their vulnerabilities expose users to a wide array of security issues that are constantly evolving [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. This research paper will address security issues, vulnerabilities, and propose to use our recently reported three-phase symmetric cipher algorithm in WSNs [6]. There are a number of the advantages associated with our proposed method. First of all, in order to prevent efforts to exploit the cipher key, this algorithm advances the level of confusion and diffusion to a degree to create the statistical connection between the plaintext and the ciphertext as compound as possible. To achieve this, the cipher algorithm is designed to make the ciphertext lengthier than the plaintext. This variation in length complicates the statistical association between the plaintext and ciphertext, making the cryptanalysis procedure tremendously challenging.
This chapter begins by developing a common ground with respect to applications of WSNs. In Sections 1.3 and 1.4, the threats and challenges in WSNs and the taxonomy of WSN attacks will be discussed. We investigate passive and active attacks in Sections 1.5 and 1.6, respectively. The objectives of network security will be presented in Section 1.7. In Section 1.8, our defense mechanism will be proposed. Section 1.9 draws the conclusion.
1.2 Applications of WSNs
WSNs have various uses such as healthcare applications, environmental monitoring, military services, and commercial applications, among others. In healthcare services, WSNs can be used to monitor patients within the clinical setting [7]. For instance, sensors are capable of providing clinicians with an easy and effective mechanism to monitor physiological functions within a hospital. Furthermore, sensors can also be used to track the patient movement within a hospital for monitoring purposes, as well as to help nurses and doctors faster access to patients in times of emergencies.
Additionally, WSNs are crucial in the military application, such as detecting intrusions, parameter monitoring, and surveillance. Moreover, WSNs can be used by military personnel before an armed operation to determine the weather conditions of remote areas since weather changes can have significant influences on military outcomes. Since WSNs are capable of providing real-time data, their importance in surveillance capabilities and functions such as detecting movements from hostile combatants plays an essential role in modern warfare [8].
Finally, WSNs can be used to monitor air pollution, monitor water pollution, for underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs), and for agricultural applications. In the case of agricultural monitoring, WSNs can be used in animal tracking, greenhouse monitoring, such as determining soil humidity and environmental temperatures, and pollution control. Finally, it was posited that conservationists and animal park managers can use WSNs to monitor and track the movement of wildlife as well as the potential disposal of harmful water into their habitats [4,5].
1.3 Threats and Challenges
There are several security issues associated with WSNs due to the constraints associated with the simplicity of developing sensor node hardware, in addition to their areas of deployment like hostile environments during military conflicts. One of the issues resulting in vulnerabilities in WSNs arises from the fact that the cost of the WSN is required to be least possible. This means that most developers of WSNs are less likely to utilize complex tamper-resistant hardware in the event a sensor node is physically captured [8,9]. Another crucial security issue associated with WSNs is the fact that sensor nodes rely on wireless communication, which is easier to eavesdrop on during communi...
