A Distance Vector Hop-Based Secure and Robust Localization Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Location information of sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network is important. The sensor nodes are usually required to ascertain their positions so that the data collected by these nodes can be labeled with this information. On the other hand, certain attacks on wireless sensor networks lead to the incorrect estimation of sensor node positions. In such situations, when the location information is not correct, the data may be labeled with wrong location information that may subvert the desired operation of the wireless sensor network. In this work, we formulate and propose a distance vector hop-based algorithm to provide secure and robust localization in the presence of malicious sensor nodes that result in incorrect position estimation and jeopardize the wireless sensor network operation. The algorithm uses cryptography to ensure secure and robust operation in the presence of adversaries in the sensor network. As a result of the countermeasures, the attacks are neutralized and the sensor nodes are able to estimate their positions as desired. Our secure localization algorithm provides a defense against various types of security attacks, such as selective forwarding, wormhole, Sybil, tampering, and traffic replay, compared with other algorithms which provide security against only one or two types. Simulation experiments are performed to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, and the results indicate that our secure localization algorithm achieves the design objectives successfully. Performance of the proposed method is also compared with the performance of basic distance vector hop algorithm and two secure algorithms based on distance vector hop localization. The results reveal that our proposed secure localization algorithm outperforms the compared algorithms in the presence of multiple attacks by malicious nodes.