Key management issues in wireless sensor networks: current proposals and future developments

Abstract

Before a WSN can exchange data securely, encryption keys must be established among sensor nodes. Key distribution refers to the distribution of multiple keys among the sensor nodes, which is typical in a non-trivial security scheme. Key management is a broader term for key distribution, which also includes the processes of key setup, the initial distribution of keys, and key revocation-the removal of a compromised key.

A Survey on Wireless Sensor Networks Security with the Integration of Clustering and Keying Techniques

“…[8]. Generally, asymmetric as well as symmetric cryptography could be employed to achieve security [18]. The most robust form of WSN security architecture is based on three different interacting phases [13]: a pair-wise key establishment to provide authentication and the initial key exchange, the establishment of sending clusters to extend pairwise communication to broadcast inside the communication range, and encrypted and authenticated communication of sensor data.…”

“…[15]. An attacker may capture and compromise a node and thus be able to control some part or even the whole network [18]. One of the security solutions of WSN is to employ and manage the cryptographic keys.…”

“…The new research direction of WSN stresses on the integration of the clustering schemes and the key management schemes in order to obtain different security schemes for a wide range of applications. J.C. Lee et al [18], state the use of a group key is necessary for multicast communication, cluster-based group keying schemes are more robust than network-wide keys because the compromise of a node, will lead to the compromise of the cluster, but not the entire group.…”

A Key Management Method Based on Dynamic Clustering for Sensor Networks

“…Because of limited storage space and computing power, lacking of a priori knowledge for later nodes deployed, and inability to guarantee the physical security in deployment region for sensor network, the traditional network security method is not suitable for sensor networks. Lightweight key management method, which aims to secure communication, becomes the most important and basic aspect of security research for wireless sensor networks [3][4][5].…”

Random key pre-distribution with transitory master key for wireless sensor networks

“…The establishment of the cryptographic keys in the network is called Key Management [2]. This activity affects strongly the security and the computation performance of the network.…”