Protecting Routing Data in WSNs with use of IOTA Tangle

Abstract

Routing in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are based on multi-hop communication in which the messages pass through multiple sensor nodes, and hence routing algorithms must rely on trust relationships between neighboring nodes. The open access nature of WSNs leads to the possibility of nodes becoming compromised and consequently being turned into malicious objects. One such attack on WSNs is the Sybil attack, in which an attacker can take control of a legitimate node or enter a malicious node into the network and create fake identities. Consequently, they can change the behavior of the WSN, such as its routing schema to cause loops or wrong directions to manipulate data and consume the energy of the network, or even target cluster heads. In this paper, we present a novel technique based on IOTA Tangle, a distributed ledger technology, for the detection and prevention of Sybil attacks by protecting routing data. A transaction history on IOTA is maintained for detecting malicious node injection, and IOTA currency is used as a reputation score to prevent malicious nodes and protect the routing table. Even if an attacker gains access to the network, all routing data can be tracked in IOTA Tangle that will alert the base station about this attack. The technique has been simulated and evaluated using a proof-of-concept prototype.