Secure-TWS: Authenticating node to multi-user communication in shared sensor networks
Leonardo B. Oliveira, Aman Kansal, Bodhi Priyantha, Michel Goraczko, Feng Zhao · 2009
Recent works have shown the usefulness of network and application layer protocols that connect low power sensor nodes directly to multiple applications and users on the Internet. We propose a security solution for this scenario. While previous works have provided security support for various communication patterns in sensor networks, such as among nodes, from nodes to a base station, and from users to nodes, the security of communication from sensor nodes to multiple users has not been sufficiently addressed. Specifically, we explore this design space and develop a security solution, named Secure-TWS, for efficient authentication of data sent by a resource constrained sensor node to multiple users, using digital signatures. We investigate the resource overheads in communication and computation for two most suitable signature schemes – the Elliptic Curve Digital Algorithm (ECDSA) and the Boneh-Lynn-Shacham (BLS) short signature schemes. We implement these schemes on two popular sensor node architectures (based on MSP430 and ARM processors with 802.15.4 radios) and experimentally characterize relevant trade-offs.