Security and Privacy Protection in Wireless Sensor Networks
Sasha Slijepcevic, Miodrag Potkonjak, Jennifer L. A. Wong · 2004
Security and privacy protection are of extreme importance for many of the proposed applications of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The list of potential applications that require protection mechanisms includes early target tracking and monitoring on a battlefield; law enforcement applications; automotive telemetric applications; room occupation monitoring in office buildings; measuring temperature and pressure in oil pipelines [1]; and forest fire detection. All these applications have unlimited benefits and potential; however, if the sensor information is not protected properly, possible compromises in user information, the environment, and even physical actuators could result. The primary driving impetus for the development of sensor networks has been military applications, where security requirements are at their highest [2]. Although a WSN deployed on a battlefield can offer a reliable assessment of battlefield conditions without risking lives, an inadequately protected network could become a powerful weapon for an enemy. Strong security requirements for such applications are often combined with an inhospitable and physically unprotected environment. For commercial applications of WSNs, the issue of privacy protection is as important as secure and reliable functioning of a network. The protection of personal physiological and psychological information is expected by any user. As the applications of WSNs become more complex and widespread, the ability to protect such systems from any unauthorized access will become increasingly important. Sensor networks operate in a variety of physical environments and under varieties of constraints. The limited resources of sensor nodes require the development of customized system architectures for each particular WSN application so that the sensor node resources are efficiently used. Because security and privacy protection mechanisms require a significant amount of computational and storage resources, Sasha Slijepcevic University of California at Los Angeles