A secure data aggregation protocol for outlier detection in wireless sensor networks using aggregate Message Authentication Code

Abstract

Data aggregation is the most commonly used approach for extending the lifetime of the wireless sensor networks (WSNs). WSNs are exposed to events, errors and malicious activities which can cause unreliable and improper readings sent to the base station, often called as outlier values. These outlier values can indicate an emergency, for example, a rise in temperature value can indicate a fire. Hence, if this outlier value is not handled appropriately, then it can cause serious consequences. The data aggregation schemes do not take such outlier values into consideration and aggregates them with the normal values. Thus, we need to incorporate the outlier detection with the Secure Data Aggregation (SDA) scheme. The adversary can corrupt these outlier values, so the integrity of the outlier values needs to be taken care of. Integrity is classically achieved using a Message Authentication Code (MAC) in many to one communication. Transmission channel capacity of WSN is often small, so MAC represents a significant overhead. This fact introduced scope to find methods to compute the aggregate MAC (AMAC). We have proposed a novel SDA protocol with outlier detection mechanism that uses AMAC.