Chapter 1

Introduction

1.1 Introduction

Sensor nodes are distributed in a given area for monitoring real world environmental or phys-
ical conditions such as location, pressure,temperature, motion, sound etc. It is widely used
by military applications. Normally the environment is hostile or disaster area. Due to the
presence of malicious nodes in the sensor network, it has to face various security problems.
Major research issues in wireless sensor networks include energy, self management, hard-
ware and software issues, MAC layer issues, data collection and transmission, deployment,
decentralized management, multimedia communication, synchronization and real time oper-
ations. Due to the fundamental characteristics of sensor nodes, security is the important and
crucial issue. This study focuses on security attacks in wireless sensor networks.

1.2 Wireless Sensor Networks

Each node in the wireless sensor network contains power supply (battery), radio transceiver,
analog-to-digital converter and microprocessor. Each node sends data to the neighboring
nodes and the neighboring nodes forward it to the next neighboring nodes and at last it
reaches to the sink node. Major applications of wireless sensor networks are divided into
two parts: event detection applications and data collection applications. Sensor nodes are
deployed in the field. When any event occurs, the information is routed to the base station or
sink node. User can access base station through internet or satellite.
Wireless sensor network is differing from other traditional networks in the following ways:

1. Traditional networks are used for general purpose design while wireless sensor net-
works are used for single purpose design and serve one specific application.

1
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 2

2. Traditional networks are designed according to plans while wireless sensor networks
are designed without planning, the deployment and network structure is ad hoc.

3. For traditional networks energy is not the main concern while energy is the primary
concern for wireless sensor networks.

4. Traditional networks operate in controlled environment while sensor networks operate

in hostile environments.

5. Traditional networks are easy to access while physical access to sensor nodes is diffi-
cult.

A comparison of wireless sensor networks and wireless ad hoc networks is shown in Table
1.1 [1-3].

Table 1.1: Wireless sensor networks Vs. other ad hoc networks

Wireless Sensor Networks Wireless Ad hoc Networks

Large no. of nodes. Medium no. of nodes.
Nodes are densely deployed. Nodes are scattered.
Nodes are prone to failures. Chances of node failures are very rare.
Topology changes very frequently. Topology changes rarely.
Broadcast communication is used. Point-to-Point communication is used.
Battery is not replaceable and not
Battery is replaceable.
rechargeable.
Aggregation is possible. Aggregation is not suitable.
Memory and computational capacities is not
Limited memory and computational capacities.
limited.
Low data rate. High data rate.
High redundancy. Low redundancy.

There exist four categories of routing protocols for sensor networks [4]:

1. Routing based on flooding

2. Hierarchical routing

3. Routing based on location

4. Probabilistic routing
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 3

Some of the commonly used routing protocols include LEACH (Low Energy Adaptive
Clustering Hierarchy), direct diffusion, AODV (Ad-hoc On Demand Distance Vector Rout-
ing), GBR (Gradient Based Routing) and GPSR (Greedy Perimeter Stateless Routing) [5].

1.3 Characteristics of WSNs

Wireless sensor networks have several benefits including easy deployment, self organization,
low cost and high fidelity sensing etc. In wireless sensor networks, hundreds or thousands of
nodes are deployed in a sensor field for monitoring physical environment. The cost of sensor
network is reduced by reducing the cost of the sensor nodes as low as possible. Sensor nodes
are distributed randomly or uniformly. Each sensor node collects the data and processes
it. After processing, data are aggregated and send to the sink node. Sensor nodes must be
capable of organizing themselves. Wireless sensor networks are application oriented. They
differ from conventional networks. Sensor nodes have to be fault tolerant because they are
deployed over a large and hostile environment. If a node needs to communicate with base
station or other node which is beyond its communication range, then it is forwarded by the
intermediate node through multi-hop communication. Wireless sensor networks are subject
to various constraints and challenges. The most important design constraints are listed below
[6, 7]:

1. Energy.
Energy is very crucial parameter for wireless sensor networks. Sensor nodes are pow-
ered through batteries. Nodes will be discarded once their energy is depleted. Battery
determines the lifetime of the sensor node.

2. Lack of a-priori knowledge of post deployment position.

Sensor nodes are deployed through airplane or vehicles. Therefore, the nodes come
into communication range of which other nodes is not predefined. Nodes are scattered.

3. Unattended after Deployment.

Sensor nodes are generally deployed in disaster area or for military applications. They
are not personally monitored. After deployment, the nodes operate without human
intervention.

4. Very limited resources.

• Limited memory
• Limited power
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 4

• Limited computation

5. Security.
Sensor nodes are remotely managed and they are unattended. Therefore, security is
very crucial for wireless sensor networks. They are vulnerable to attacks and malicious
intrusions. Wireless communication is also unreliable. The most challenging threat
is denial of service attack in which the goal of an attacker is to disrupt the normal
operation of the wireless sensor network. Sensor nodes are resource limited devices.
Traditional security algorithms are not applicable. Therefore, new security measures
are needed for wireless sensor networks.

6. Collisions and latency.

Sensor networks are densely deployed. Therefore, chances of collision and increase in
latency are more.

7. Remotely managed.
Sensor nodes are managed offsite. Therefore, it is difficult to detect physical tempering
with the sensor nodes in a network. Redeploying cryptographic keys and replacing
batteries are not possible to do remotely.

1.4 Architecture of WSNs

In wireless sensor networks, many sensor nodes cooperatively monitor large physical envi-
ronments. They are differing in their communication capabilities.

Figure 1.1: Sensor network communication structure [6, 8]

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 5

Fig. 1.1 shows the sensor network communication structure. Wireless sensor nodes are
deployed in the sensor field. Each node collects the data and transmits to the next node and
finally data reaches to the base station. Base station is the data aggregation point. Through
satellite or internet, one can monitor the given area. Hundreds to thousands of nodes are de-
ployed in the given area. Sensor nodes are not personally monitored. The user can remotely
access, process and analyze the data.

Figure 1.2: Sensor node components [8]

Fig. 1.2 shows sensor node components. The main components of a sensor node includes
the following:

1. Sensing unit.
It consists of different types of sensors. Selection of sensors depends on application.
The output of the sensor node is an electric signal which is analog. It is converted into
digital form by analog to digital converter and given to the processor.

2. Processing unit.
The processor executes instructions pertaining to sensing, communication and self-
organization. It consists of a processor chip, a nonvolatile memory for storing program
instructions, an active memory for temporarily storing the sensed data and an internal
clock. Most existing sensor nodes at present use microcontrollers. The functionality
of the processor is to collect the data for processing and store it.

3. Communication unit.
Radio transceiver is used for communication purpose. It consists of a receiver as well
as a transmitter. Depending on the application requirements, an appropriate method is
used for communication such as infrared, optical or radio communication.
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 6

4. Power unit.
Energy is provided to the sensor nodes by using power unit. The life of the sensor node
depends on battery. Mobilizer is used for mobility purpose. Location finding system
is used to know the node’s location. Power generator is used for recharging sensor
nodes.

Sensor node consists of hardware having low power consumption. Each node consists of
sensors, a radio chipset used for wireless communication, a serial port used for node to host
communication and a microcontroller. Microcontroller contains RAM and flash memory.
RAM is used for program execution and flash memory is used for program storage. Micro-
controller is the most interesting part for an attacker. Fig. 1.3 shows the current sensor node
hardware.

Figure 1.3: Current sensor node hardware: Mica2 [10] and Tmote sky [11]

The specification of different types of sensor nodes is given in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2: Specification of different types of sensor nodes

Specifications MICA2 TMote mini

8Mhz, Atmel ATMega128
Processor MSP430 F1611 microcontroller
microcontroller
RAM 4 Kbytes 10 Kbytes
Max. Data Rate 76.8 Kbps 250 Kbps
Program Flesh Memory 128 Kbytes 48 Kbytes
Transmit Power 87.90mW 57mW
Receive Power 36.81mW 57mW
Sleep Power 0.048mW 0.003mW
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 7

Protocol stack of wireless sensor network is shown in Fig. 1.4.

Figure 1.4: Protocol stack of WSNs [12]

Wireless sensor network can be configured as a layered architecture [12]. The five layers
are as follows:

1. Physical Layer.

• Modulation.
• Data encryption.
• Frequency selection.

2. Data Link Layer.

• Medium access control.

• Error control.
• Data frame selection.

3. Network Layer.

• Route the data between sensors nodes and the sink using multi-hop wireless rout-
ing protocols.

4. Transport Layer.

• Maintaining the data flow.

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 8

5. Application Layer.

• Makes the hardware and software transparent to the end user.

1.5 Applications of WSNs

Applications of wireless sensor networks include military, medical, environmental and habi-
tat monitoring, industrial and infrastructure protection, disaster detection and recovery, agri-
culture etc [9]. Some common applications are listed below:

1. Area/Habitat Monitoring.
A common application of wireless sensor network is an area monitoring. Sensor nodes
are deployed in large area to monitor some phenomenon. In military, sensor nodes are
used for enemy intrusion detection. Wireless sensor networks are used for monitoring
of water, oil and gas pipelines. It requires unobtrusive and continuous monitoring.
The possible reasons for Leakages can be internal damage, earthquakes, corrosion
etc. When the sensor nodes detect the event (pressure, heat), it is reported to the base
station.

2. Earth/Environmental Monitoring.
Environmental sensor network covers many applications of wireless sensor networks
including volcano monitoring, human activity monitoring, monitoring temperature and
humidity.

3. Critical Events/Forest Fire Detection.

Wireless sensor network is used to detect fire in the forest. The sensor nodes are used
to measure humidity, gases and temperature produced by the fire.

4. Health Applications.
Use of sensors allow to continuously monitoring health of patients and help in criti-
cal situation like calling doctors or staff through sending certain signals or message in
emergency. Sensor nodes used for health monitoring include electrocardiogram, sen-
sors for monitoring blood flow, blood pressure sensors, sensors for monitoring body
and skin temperature etc.

5. Precision Agriculture.
It is useful for farmers for managing the farm and for efficient production. It provides
a decision support system by encompassing climate change and monitoring of crop
and soil. Radar, GPS and aerial images are used for diagnose purpose.
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 9

1.6 Motivation

Security is very crucial for resource constrained wireless sensor networks due to their funda-
mental nature. Wireless sensor networks are vulnerable to many attacks including sinkhole,
wormhole, sybil, selective forwarding, blackhole etc. Wormhole is very dangerous among
all these attacks. It is a gateway of many more attacks. Launching the attack is easy, but
detecting it is very hard. For launching the attack, it is not required to know the crypto-
graphic material or protocols used in the network. A malicious node attracts the traffic from
one location and tunnels to another location and disturbs the whole routing process [13-15].
Research related to wormhole in sensor network has received much interest recently. In
mobility based sensor networks, two nodes located far away from each other becomes one
hop neighbors. Therefore, it creates an illusion that wormhole may be launched. It is very
challenging to differentiate the malicious and the genuine nodes.

1.7 Original Contribution

Our main contribution includes the following:

1. Survey of various security attacks and their countermeasures.

2. Identifying merits and demerits of existing techniques for wormhole detection.

3. Wormhole detection mechanism in static wireless sensor networks with low resource
requirements and high detection accuracy.

4. Wormhole detection mechanism in mobility based wireless sensor networks with low
resource requirements and high detection accuracy.

5. Impact of variants of wormhole and their countermeasures in WSNs.

To summarize, this thesis attempts to address the security attacks in wireless sensor networks
such as blackhole, selective forwarding, jamming, sinkhole, wormhole etc. Among all pos-
sible attacks, wormhole is a gateway of many more attacks. Therefore, our main focus is on
detection of wormhole attacks in static and mobility based wireless sensor networks.

1.8 Organization of Thesis

The rest of the thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 2 presents sensor network security and
attacks.
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 10

Chapter 3 presents wormhole attack countermeasures.

Chapter 4 presents wormhole detection methodology in static WSNs.
Chapter 5 presents wormhole detection methodology in mobility based WSNs.
Impact of variants of wormhole is presented in chapter 6.
The thesis concludes with conclusions and further scope of this work in chapter 7, with some
key references listed in bibliography section.