Insider DoS Attacks on Epidemic Propagation Strategies of Network Reprogramming in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Network reprogramming is a crucial service in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) that relies on epidemic strategy for spreading software updates by just having a local view of the networks. Securing the process of network reprogramming is essential in some certain WSNs applications, state-of-the-art secure network reprogramming protocols for WSNs aim for the efficient source authentication and integrity verification of code image, however, due to the resource constrains of WSNs, existing secure network reprogramming protocols are vulnerable to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks when sensor nodes can be compromised (insider DoS attacks). In this paper, we identify different types of DoS attacks exploiting the epidemic propagation strategies used by Deluge and propose corresponding analysis models to attempt to quantify the cost of these attacks damage. Simulation further shows the impact of insider DoS attacks on network reprogramming in WSNs.