Securing coding based distributed storage in wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Abstract-We present a novel information theoretic approach to make network coding based storage secure against pollution attacks in sensor networks. The approach is based on a new decoding algorithm which makes it possible to find adversarial blocks using one more encoded block than strictly necessary for decoding. Our scheme fits well to the requirements of sensor networks, because it operates with adding very low computational and communication overhead to source and storage nodes, only the collector node needs to perform some additional computation. Our approach does not apply cryptography, hence it works in environments where no pre-shared keys, secure channels or PKI are available, which is often the case in sensor networks.

Tradeoffs between jamming resilience and communication efficiency in key establishment

“…In order to provide thorough evaluation of the candidate schemes and comparison with respect to the SPCC scheme, we use the metric based on the expected number of bits sent, defined in (3). Finding the optimal values of l through taking the derivative of t, we note that t is proportional to (1 − γ)/c, implying that γ and c have no effect on this optimization.…”

“…In a pollution attack [3,7], an adversary inserts malicious fragments alongside the valid ones, resulting in decoding error. Prior to key exchange, this necessitates a protocol to verify packet origins, without which an exponential search is required to find the valid subset of fragments.…”

Pollution Attack Defense for Coding Based Sensor Storage

“…While network coding has advantages in benign environments, its performance may seriously fall in the presence of an adversary [11], [12], [13]. We present a scheme that resists pollution attacks, meaning that our scheme makes possible successful decoding even if some compromised nodes store maliciously modified data.…”

“…The algorithms presented here are based on the principles introduced in [13]. Here we explore the theoretical limits of the method and we propose a much more efficient decoding algorithm than the one in [13].…”

A coding-theoretic approach for efficient message verification over insecure channels

“…Additionally, an adversary can utilize cross-layer information to perform more devastating jamming attacks by targeting specific layers (MAC, link, network) [8,12]. Alternatively, an adversary can maliciously insert packets into the wireless channel, often referred to as a pollution attack [4,11], causing erroneous message reception and reducing throughput.…”