We present the first known implementation of elliptic curve cryptography over F/sub 2p/ for sensor networks based on the 8-bit, 7.3828-MHz MICA2 mote. Through instrumentation of UC Berkeley's TinySec module, we argue that, although secret-key cryptography has been tractable in this domain for some time, there has remained a need for an efficient, secure mechanism for distribution of secret keys among nodes. Although public-key infrastructure has been thought impractical, we argue, through analysis of our own implementation for TinyOS of multiplication of points on elliptic curves, that public-key infrastructure is, in fact, viable for TinySec keys' distribution, even on the MICA2. We demonstrate that public keys can be generated within 34 seconds, and that shared secrets can be distributed among nodes in a sensor network within the same, using just over 1 kilobyte of SRAM and 34 kilobytes of ROM.

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A public-key infrastructure for key distribution in TinyOS based on elliptic curve cryptography

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) use small nodes with constrained capabilities to sense, collect, and disseminate information in many types of applications. As sensor networks become wide-spread, security issues become a central concern, especially in mission-critical tasks. In this paper, we identify the threats and vulnerabilities to WSNs and summarize the defense methods based on the networking protocol layer analysis first. Then we give a holistic overview of security issues. These issues are divided into seven categories: cryptography, key management, attack detections and preventions, secure routing, secure location security, secure data fusion, and other security issues. Along the way we analyze the advantages and disadvantages of current secure schemes in each category. In addition, we also summarize the techniques and methods used in these categories, and point out the open research issues and directions in each area.

/pdf/sensor-network-security-a-survey-2ko4ukoih7.pdf

Sensor network security: a survey

As wireless sensor networks continue to grow, so does the need for effective security mechanisms. Because sensor networks may interact with sensitive data and/or operate in hostile unattended environments, it is imperative that these security concerns be addressed from the beginning of the system design. However, due to inherent resource and computing constraints, security in sensor networks poses different challenges than traditional network/computer security. There is currently enormous research potential in the field of wireless sensor network security. Thus, familiarity with the current research in this field will benefit researchers greatly. With this in mind, we survey the major topics in wireless sensor network security, and present the obstacles and the requirements in the sensor security, classify many of the current attacks, and finally list their corresponding defensive measures.

Wireless Sensor Network Security: A Survey

Advances in technology introduce new application areas for sensor networks. Foreseeable wide deployment of mission critical sensor networks creates concerns on security issues. Security of large scale densely deployed and infrastructure less wireless networks of resource limited sensor nodes requires efficient key distribution and management mechanisms. We consider distributed and hierarchical wireless sensor networks where unicast, multicast and broadcast type of communications can take place. We evaluate deterministic, probabilistic and hybrid type of key pre-distribution and dynamic key generation algorithms for distributing pair-wise, group-wise and network-wise keys.

/pdf/key-distribution-mechanisms-for-wireless-sensor-networks-a-2o484fchh6.pdf

Key distribution mechanisms for wireless sensor networks : a survey

The significant advances of hardware manufacturing technology and the development of efficient software algorithms make technically and economically feasible a network composed of numerous, small, low-cost sensors using wireless communications, that is, a wireless sensor network. WSNs have attracted intensive interest from both academia and industry due to their wide application in civil and military scenarios. In hostile scenarios, it is very important to protect WSNs from malicious attacks. Due to various resource limitations and the salient features of a wireless sensor network, the security design for such networks is significantly challenging. In this article, we present a comprehensive survey of WSN security issues that were investigated by researchers in recent years and that shed light on future directions for WSN security.

Securing wireless sensor networks: a survey

A system delivers multimedia services to mobile devices via a network by first registering a mobile device with a service manager connected to the mobile device via the network. Application service providers are connected to the service manager via the network. Each application service provider is associated with particular multimedia services. An environment description to be associated with the mobile device is acquired, and a particular application service provider is identified according to the environment description, and then selected services provided by the particular application service provider are delivered to the mobile device according to the environment description via the network.

Environment aware services for mobile devices

In this paper, we consider efficient authenticated key establishment protocols between a sensor and a security manager in a self-organizing sensor network. We propose a hybrid authenticated key establishment scheme, which exploits the difference in capabilities between security managers and sensors, and put the cryptographic burden where the resources are less constrained. The hybrid scheme reduces the high cost public-key operations at the sensor side and replaces them with efficient symmetric-key based operations. Meanwhile, the scheme authenticates the two identities based on public-key certificates to avoid the typical key management problem in pure symmetric-key based protocols and maintain a good amount of scalability. The proposed scheme can be efficiently implemented on Mitsubishi's M16C microprocessor in 5.2Kbyte code/data size, and achieve a total processing time of 760 ms on sensor side, which is better than all the other public-key based key establishment protocols we have studied. We also present its modified version with a faster speed but more communication overhead.

/pdf/fast-authenticated-key-establishment-protocols-for-self-1wvzwddef8.pdf

Fast authenticated key establishment protocols for self-organizing sensor networks

A method authenticates packets that are transmitted serially in a network. A current password is selected for a current packet to be transmitted. The current packet includes current data. A one-way/one-time hash function is applied to the current password to form a current tag. A next password is selected for a next packet that includes next data, and the one-way/one-time hash function is applied to the next password to form a next tag. The one-way/one-time hash function is then applied to the next data, the next tag, and the current password to obtain a hashed value. The current packet is then transmitted to include the hash value, the current data, the current tag, and a previous password of a previous transmitted packet to authenticate the current data.

Secure routing protocol for an ad hoc network using one-way/one-time hash functions

We present a security design for a general purpose, self-organizing, multihop ad hoc wireless network, based on the IEEE 802.15.4 low-rate wireless personal area network standard. The design employs elliptic-curve cryptography and the AES block cipher to supply message integrity and encryption services, key-establishment protocols, and a large set of extended security services, while at the same time meeting the low implementation cost, low power, and high flexibility requirements of ad hoc wireless networks.

/pdf/a-security-design-for-a-general-purpose-self-organizing-3vpa1410n6.pdf

A security design for a general purpose, self-organizing, multihop ad hoc wireless network

A system and method to protect mobile devices, such as laptops, PDAs, and mobile telephones with a wearable token is presented. The method performs token-enabled authentication to enable operation of the mobile device. Short range wireless communication is used between the token and the mobile device for the purpose of authentication.

Johnas I. Cukier

Papers

Environment aware services for mobile devices

Fast authenticated key establishment protocols for self-organizing sensor networks

Secure routing protocol for an ad hoc network using one-way/one-time hash functions

A security design for a general purpose, self-organizing, multihop ad hoc wireless network

Token-enabled authentication for securing mobile devices