Abstract
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consist of resource-starving miniature sensor nodes deployed in a remote and hostile environment. These networks operate on small batteries for days, months, and even years depending on the requirements of monitored applications. The battery-powered operation and inaccessible human terrains make it practically infeasible to recharge the nodes unless some energy-scavenging techniques are used. These networks experience threats at various layers and, as such, are vulnerable to a wide range of attacks. The resource-constrained nature of sensor nodes, inaccessible human terrains, and error-prone communication links make it obligatory to design lightweight but robust and secured schemes for these networks. In view of these limitations, we aim to design an extremely lightweight payload-based mutual authentication scheme for a cluster-based hierarchical WSN. The proposed scheme, also known as payload-based mutual authentication for WSNs, operates in 2 steps. First, an optimal percentage of cluster heads is elected, authenticated, and allowed to communicate with neighboring nodes. Second, each cluster head, in a role of server, authenticates the nearby nodes for cluster formation. We validate our proposed scheme using various simulation metrics that outperform the existing schemes.
Original language | English |
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Article number | e3986 |
Journal | Concurrency Computation Practice and Experience |
Volume | 29 |
Issue number | 17 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 10 Sept 2017 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- authentication
- client-server model
- cluster
- cluster head
- lightweight
- payload based
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Software
- Theoretical Computer Science
- Computer Science Applications
- Computer Networks and Communications
- Computational Theory and Mathematics