A hierarchical key management method for wireless sensor networks

Abstract

It is widely accepted that wireless sensor networks can serve as a powerful infrastructure for information gathering, processing, and transfer. Since data transfer in these networks is via wireless channels, they should be equipped with necessary security measures to prevent eavesdropping or manipulation of information by attackers. This paper presents a key management protocol that delivers services such as message confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity to wireless sensor networks by handling keys generation, distribution, and maintenance. In the proposed method, three auxiliary keys are used along with a main key to encrypt information in the network in three different levels. In the proposed approach, the network is divided into multiple areas supervised by area managers, which are stronger nodes with more processing power and more memory. The method also includes a lightweight authentication process that is carried out by the area managers. Using a hierarchical key management approach, the proposed method offers improved power consumption, scalability, flexibility, and efficiency. The results of simulation performed in Network Simulator v.2 and comparisons made with HISCOM and MGHS key management methods demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms them in terms of flexibility and network lifetime. Furthermore, this method has lower power consumption and memory usage than HISCOM and MGHS.