A distributed node self-monitoring mechanism in wireless sensor networks

Self-monitoring is an important mechanism for the security of wireless sensor networks. In this work we propose a novel distributed node self-monitoring mechanism for wireless sensor networks. Assuming a sensor node can detect the communications (sending message) of its neighboring nodes, we design a one-to-many self-monitoring mechanism, in which the selected nodes, named Monitor Nodes (MNs), can monitor their neighboring nodes. A distributed dominating set approximation algorithm is design to obtain the MN set. The cooperation among MNs guarantees all regular nodes (RNs) are monitored. However, the MNs may be compromised by external attackers and produces false alarms. To improve the one-to-many self-monitoring mechanism, we design a many-to-one dynamical monitoring approach to take the MNs under surveillance. The neighboring nodes of a MN are dynamically selected to monitor their MN. In the proposed mechanism, a node produces an alert when it detects abnormal behaviors of the node under surveillance. The sink node collects the alert messages to make judgment to the potential abnormal nodes. The proposed self-monitoring mechanism can be used to detect and position multiple inter-network attacks, including selective forwarding, black-hole and DoS. Simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed node self-monitoring mechanism.