Group-based key management for Mobile Sensor Networks

Key management in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is a challenging research issue due to the limited resources of sensor nodes. Key management is even more complicated in scalable Mobile Sensor Networks (MSNs) where node mobility poses far more dynamics as compared to static WSNs. The unique characteristics of mobile nodes create a number of nontrivial challenges for security design, given stringent resource constraints, scalability requirements and a highly dynamic topology. Security services for MSNs include authentication, communication confidentiality and integrity. Key management/establishment can be a fundamental requirement for attaining these security services. Existing key management schemes are application dependent and limited to static WSNs. In this paper we therefore propose a novel key management scheme which could be used both for static WSNs and MSNs. Evaluation results show a significant improvement in resilience against node capture attacks, data confidentiality, better memory overhead and connectivity for mobile nodes.