WSN security issues

Presented by:

Maha Saad Mohamed

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Introduction High level of security is needed in WSN. This leads to need of extra resources.

BUT WSN resources are very limited. Current researches haven’t treat this conflict

yet.

SO Special security requirements are needed. WSN security faces a lot of challenges. A lot of research points in this area is open.

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Agenda

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Why high security level is needed?

Security AND survivability requirements.

Taxonomy of attacks.

WSN security challenges.

Conclusion.

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Why high security level is needed?

Have many applications in military and homeland.

Could be deployed in hostile environments.

Could be deployed in uncontrolled environment.

Wireless communication facilitates eavesdropping.

Often monitor their surroundings, so it is easy to deduce extra unwanted information results in privacy violation.

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WSN security AND survivability requirements.

Security in a WSN is extremely important. Moreover, it should be run reliably without interruption.

Security requirements: Confidentiality. Authentication. Non-repudiation . Integrity. Freshness Forward and Backward secrecy

Survivability requirements: Reliability Availability. Energy efficiency.

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Taxonomy of attacks.

BASED ON

Capability of the attacker

Attacks on information in

transitProtocol stack

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1. Based on capability of the attacker Outsider versus insider attacks.

Passive versus active attacks.

Mote-class versus laptop-class attacks.

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2. Based on attacks on information in transit. Interruption.

Interception.

Modification. Fabrication.

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3. Based on protocol stack.

WSN protocol stack

This protocol stack combines power and routing awareness.

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3.1. Physical layer attacks. Attacks:

Device Tampering. Eavesdropping. Jamming.

Solutions: Access Restriction Encryption.

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3.2. Data link layer attacks. Attacks:

Traffic Manipulation. Identity Spoofing.

ex. Sybil attack

Solutions: Misbehavior Detection. Identity Protection

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3.3. Network layer attacks. Attacks:

False Routing. Black Hole.

Solutions: Routing Access Restriction. False Routing Information Detection.

Sinkhole

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3.3. Transport layer attacks. Attacks:

Flooding. De-synchronization Attacks.

Solutions: Limit number of connections from a particular

node. Header or full packet authentication.

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3.3. Application layer attacks. Attacks:

Selective Message Forwarding.

Data Aggregation Distortion

Solutions: Data Integrity Protection. Data Confidentiality Protection.

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WSN security challenges (1/3).

Conflicting between minimization of resource consumption and maximization of security level.

Advanced anti-jamming techniques are impossible due to its complex design and high energy consumption. .

Ad-hoc topology facilitates attackers of different types and from different directions.

Most current standard security protocols do not scale to a large number of participants.

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WSN security challenges (2/3).

Encryption requires extra processing, memory and battery power.

Secure asymmetric key needs more computations.

Although sensors location information are important most of current proposal are suitable for static WSNs.

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WSN security challenges (3/3).

Most existing time synchronization schemes are vulnerable to several attacks.

Their low costs impedes use of expensive tamper-resistant hardware.

Little research has been done in code attestation.

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Conclusion. WSN needs high level of security due to its harsh

environment.

This leads to intense security and survival requirements.

WSN face attacks of different types.

Limited resources of sensors make WSN faces a huge security challenges.

Some challenges are resolved and many haven’t resolved yet or under studying.

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References. T.Kavitha and D.Sridharan, “Security Vulnerabilities In

Wireless Sensor Networks: A Survey”, Journal of Information Assurance and SecurityVol. 5, No. 1 pp. 31– 44, 2010.

Yi Qian and Kejie Lu and David Tipper, “A Design For Secure And Survivable Wireless Sensor Networks”, IEEE Wireless Communications , pp. 30 - 37, October 2007.

K. Xing, S. Srinivasan, M. Rivera, J. Li, and X. Cheng, Attacks and Countermeasures in Sensor Networks: A Survey, The George Washington University Technical Report GWU-CS-TR-010-05, 2005.

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Questions

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Thank you for your attention