Security Threats in Wireless Sensor Networks: A Comprehensive Overview

Author : Mukesh Chawla, Kamlesh Dutta, Navneet Verma

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks are an emerging technology for low-cost, unattended monitoring of a wide range of environments. Their importance has been enforced by the recent delivery of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard for the physical and MAC layers. Resource limitations in the Wireless Sensor networks prevent us to directly apply the security mechanism of normal computer networks, a completely different set of security protocols exist for the sensor networks. This paper identifies the vulnerabilities associated with the operational paradigms currently employed by Wireless Sensor Network. A Survey of current WSN security research is presented. A framework for implementing Security in WSNs, which identifies the security measures necessary to mitigate the identified vulnerabilities, is defined.

Keywords: Sensor, Security, Attack, Wireless, WSN,Research Area, Countermeasures