Secure Cluster Head Election Using Mark Based Exclusion in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

In clustered sensor networks, because CHs (Cluster Heads) are the collection points of data, they are likely to be compromise targets of attackers. So, they need to be changed through a CH election scheme as frequently as possible. Besides, because the compromised nodes must try to become a CH, a CH election scheme should prevent them from being a CH. This paper presents a secure CH election scheme for clustered sensor networks, which changes the CH role nodes securely by excluding the compromised nodes from CH candidates. In the proposed scheme, each node gives marks for behavior of all other nodes in the same CH election region and exchanges the mark list with them. Then, each node computes the average marks for all nodes in the region, and nodes whose average mark is less than a specific threshold are excluded from CH candidates. A CH is elected among the remaining candidates. Simulation results show that our scheme provides strong resilience against misbehavior of compromised nodes and reduces energy consumption of nodes. Another simulation results show that our scheme well operates in the environment where some packets are often lost.