TUM Logo

Detecting Node Compromise in Hybrid Wireless Sensor Networks Using Attestation Techniques

Node compromise is a serious threat in wireless sensor networks. Particular in networks which are organized in clusters, nodes acting as cluster heads for many cluster nodes are a valuable target for an adversary. We present two effcient hardware-based attestation protocols for detecting compromised cluster heads. Cluster heads are equipped with a Trusted Platform Module and possess much more resources than the majority of cluster nodes which are very constrained in their capabilities. A cluster node can verify the trustworthiness of a cluster head using the Trusted Platform Module as a trust anchor and therefore validate whether the system integrity of a cluster head has not been tampered with. The first protocol provides a broadcast attestation, i.e., allowing a cluster head to attest its system integrity to multiple cluster nodes simultaneously, while the second protocol is able to carry out a direct attestation between a single cluster node (or the sink) and one cluster head. In contrast to timing-based software approaches,the attestation can be performed even if nodes are multiple hops away from each other.

Detecting Node Compromise in Hybrid Wireless Sensor Networks Using Attestation Techniques

Proceedings of the Fourth European Workshop on Security and Privacy in Ad hoc and Sensor Networks

Authors: Christoph Krauß, Frederic Stumpf, and Claudia Eckert
Year/month: 2007/7
Booktitle: Proceedings of the Fourth European Workshop on Security and Privacy in Ad hoc and Sensor Networks
Pages: 203-217
Address: Cambridge, UK
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Fulltext:

Abstract

Node compromise is a serious threat in wireless sensor networks. Particular in networks which are organized in clusters, nodes acting as cluster heads for many cluster nodes are a valuable target for an adversary. We present two effcient hardware-based attestation protocols for detecting compromised cluster heads. Cluster heads are equipped with a Trusted Platform Module and possess much more resources than the majority of cluster nodes which are very constrained in their capabilities. A cluster node can verify the trustworthiness of a cluster head using the Trusted Platform Module as a trust anchor and therefore validate whether the system integrity of a cluster head has not been tampered with. The first protocol provides a broadcast attestation, i.e., allowing a cluster head to attest its system integrity to multiple cluster nodes simultaneously, while the second protocol is able to carry out a direct attestation between a single cluster node (or the sink) and one cluster head. In contrast to timing-based software approaches,the attestation can be performed even if nodes are multiple hops away from each other.

Bibtex:

@inproceedings {
author = { Christoph Krauß and Frederic Stumpf and Claudia Eckert},
title = { Detecting Node Compromise in Hybrid Wireless Sensor Networks Using Attestation Techniques },
year = { 2007 },
month = { July },
booktitle = { Proceedings of the Fourth European Workshop on Security and Privacy in Ad hoc and Sensor Networks },
address = { Cambridge, UK },
pages = { 203-217 },
publisher = { Springer-Verlag },

}