Denial-of-Service Attacks on Wireless Sensor Network and Defense Techniques

Abstract

The basic characteristic of a wireless sensor network is to sense the environment and to gather different types of data. It is used in various vital sectors, such as military, health-care, traffic monitoring, and so on. This provides many helpful data about these fields, which is used in implementing new technologies for them. However, there are numerous challenges and risks, regarding the security vulnerability of a wireless sensor network. This is because the resources of a wireless sensor network are very low (for example, low power, low computational resources, low storage, etc.). These constraints make them susceptible to different kinds of security attacks, especially the denial of service attacks. In this survey, we have outlined different kinds of DoS attacks in different layers of the hybrid layering model. We have also presented different defense mechanisms to protect/mitigate these attacks at different layers. Layer by layer analysis makes it easy to distinguish among different types of attacks and their defense techniques, along with the characteristics of the layers. Analysis of the critical issues of these attacks and defenses are finally presented with possible measures. This survey work can be very beneficial for the researchers and engineers in designing WSN topology with ensured security.