Abstract
Wireless sensor networks are limited in resources to accommodate traditional complex security solutions. The limitations and lack of a secure framework for the WSN makes the networks nodes vulnerable to attacks from a hostile network.
Attacks such as to DoS attacks, eavesdropping, message tempering, sinkhole, wormhole, and Sybil attacks exploit the security holes in the network compromising the integrity of the network.
The proposed project is to design a completely secure wireless sensor network by integrating appropriate security solutions to each node in the network using triple key management techniques security solutions.
Among the techniques include integrating a random key pre-distribution technique which functions on a probabilistic model to create a secure connection between nodes.
The limitation with this technique can be overcome by is to integrating multiple security solutions to overcome the disadvantage of limited key storage space.
Additional techniques integrated into the security solution include the master key based scheme which functions on a symmetric key, and a hierarchical key based scheme, which enables each of the nodes in the network to generate cryptographic keys for key authentication purposes.
A complete security solution is based on a triple key management technique for a complete and secure network communication.
Introduction
Nodes in a wireless sensor network (WSN) have high threat and risk exposures from external sources because the nodes are resource staffed, and cannot accommodate the use of secure traditional network security solutions (Undercoffer, Ayancha, Joshi, Pinkston 2004, p. 260).
Limited resources include memory constrains, limited computational capabilities, low energy storage capabilities, low data bandwidth, and limited transmission ranges (Hancke & Leuschner 2007, p.45).
That makes WSNs vulnerable to DoS attacks, eavesdropping, message tempering, sinkhole, wormhole, and Sybil attacks leading to loss of privacy and security.
The traditional data encryption techniques and complex algorithms cannot be applied, compelling the use of a multi-level protocol security framework desirable (Poornima & Amberker 2009, p. 5-17; Sharma, Ghosh & Ghose 2010, p.50; Perrig, Szewczyk, Wen, Culler & Tygar 2011, p.96).
To achieve complete security solutions to enforce network privacy, this paper proposes an integrated security solution at each node in the wireless sensor network by focusing on the network and link layers (Ibriq & Mahgoub 2007, p.211; Biradar & Patil, 2011, p.15).
Problem Statement
A complete security solution can be designed into Wireless sensor networks (WSN) which are vulnerable to attacks because traditional network solutions cannot be accommodated by the resource limited nodes.
Aim
The aim of this project is to design and implement a completely secure wireless sensor network into each node of the wireless sensor network.
Objectives
- To implement security into each node of the wireless sensor network based on a secure routing protocol.
- Integrate the concept of secure key management.
- To integrate the security solution based on a Secure and Hierarchical, a Routing protocol (SHARP).
Expectations
The outcome of the project is to attain a completely secure wireless sensor network (WSN) with hierarchically linked nodes in a cluster topology using a “Secure and Hierarchical, a Routing Protocol-SHARP” protocol.
Significance of the Study
The significance of this project is to provide complete security solutions to multiple nodes that are interconnected in a wireless sensor network to enforce privacy and ensure data integrity, availability, and confidentiality in the transmission, at minimum power consumption.
Wireless networks are vulnerable to sinkholes attacks, eavesdropping, denial of service attacks, and message tampering, in addition to undiscovered dynamically evolving attacks. This project provides a security solution to the WSN to enforce system integrity.
Theoretical Framework
The basis of the theoretical framework is the graph theory where the vertices of the WSN are represented by the sensors and nodes and the edges represent wireless channels to solve the common graph routing problems (Kaplantzis 2006, p. 19).
Literature Review
A secure WSN enforces data integrity through cryptographic schemes using secure key management techniques integrated into the security architecture of the wireless network.
Some of the key management techniques security based solutions include random key pre-distribution technique that relies on probabilistic model to establish connection between nodes in a network (Du, Xiao, Guizani & Chen, 2007, p.25). The disadvantage is a lot of space for storing a large number of keys.
The master key based scheme functions on symmetric key, but with a key distribution problem, leading to pre-deployment overheads and non-scalability. The hierarchical key based scheme, enables any node to generate cryptographic key for node authentication (Gautam, Lee, Pyun, Jae-Young 2009, p. 120).
The scheme enables sensor nodes to detect compromised nodes in the network, which is then disallowed to participate in the network.
Here, the security solution for single node relies on key deployment, authentication, and encryption, secure pre-key distribution mechanism consolidated into a triple key management security solution, using a base station to divide the network into sectors and tracks (Zhou, Fang & Zhang, 2008, p12; Zia & Zomaya 2006, p.11).
Methodology
The project will be started by analyzing the literature on random key distribution and management schemes, WSN secure routing protocols, secure key management schemes, and the use of SHARP to design and implement a secure wireless sensor network (Anurag, Rathor, Biradar & Ghose 2010, p.580).
A network diagram will be drawn detailing network clusters, the base station, and the nodes. Vulnerabilities, threats, and responsibility of each cluster and nodes and the security solutions in the design phases will be assessed.
The project output will demonstrate the attainment of node to node, node to cluster, node to cluster head, node to base station, node to routing cluster head, and data cluster heads secure communication (Boyle & Newe 2008, p.67).
Project Plan
Project timeline
References
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