Securing wireless sensor networks: a survey

TLDR

Hardware advances and efficient software algorithms enable large‑scale, low‑cost wireless sensor networks that are of great interest in civil and military applications, yet their resource constraints and unique features make security design especially challenging in hostile environments. The article surveys recent research on wireless sensor network security issues and identifies future research directions. The survey compiles and analyzes the security challenges and solutions investigated by researchers in recent years.

Abstract

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.