Security in wireless sensor networks

Abstract

This proposal describes the research project Security in Wireless Sensor Networks, which will be conducted at EPUSP with support from Auxílio à Pesquisa Regular da Fapesp. Wireless networks in general are a valuable technology to support applications in several areas, from environmental monitoring to social networks. Wireless sensor networks (WSN), in particular, have unique characteristics such as constrained energy and computation resources. Several applications require security services, such as authenticity, confidentiality and, in general, data availability. This project focus is on the development of security mechanisms for WSNs. Two main issues will be addressed: (i) security framework, focusing on the application layer, and (ii) research on new ways to increase data survival, using cryptographic mechanisms.A security framework that works on the application layer from the OSI model, allows greater flexibility regarding the utilization of several cryptographic keys, which could be related to different network groups. Furthermore, it becomes possible to change the security level in use during runtime, and also to port the framework to different platforms or operating systems. Data survival service becomes relevant in WSNs with mobile sinks, which would not be available at all times to collect data from the sensor nodes. (AU)