Random key management using group deployment in large-scale sensor networks

Abstract

Dynamics of sensor networks make security one of the top issues we should pay attention to. Sensor networks can be deployed in hostile environments where their nodes are easy to be captured or re-programmed for deleterious use by an adversary. Therefore, it is necessary to protect communications between sensor nodes through cryptographic methods. To address this, symmetric key management in wireless sensor networks arises as a challenging security issue because other key management issues (e.g., asymmetric cryptography or key distribution centers) are proven undesirable for resource-limited sensor nodes. So far, several key distribution schemes have been proposed to solve key management problems. In this paper, we propose a random key management scheme, which organizes sensor nodes into groups and uses multiple key pools to achieve higher security in large-scale sensor networks. Through security analysis and simulations, our scheme is shown to be better resilient against node capture than certain existing schemes.