Cluster based secure dynamic keying technique for heterogeneous mobile Wireless Sensor Networks

In Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks, the mobility of the sensor nodes becomes essential in various applications. During node mobility, there are possibilities for the malicious node to become the cluster head or cluster member. This causes the cluster or the whole network to be controlled by the malicious nodes. To offer high level of security, the mobile sensor nodes need to be authenticated. Further, clustering of nodes improves scalability, energy efficient routing and data delivery. In this paper, we propose a cluster based secure dynamic keying technique to authenticate the nodes during mobility. The nodes with high configuration are chosen as cluster heads based on the weight value which is estimated using parameters such as the node degree, average distance, node's average speed, and virtual battery power. The keys are dynamically generated and used for providing security. Even the keys are compromised by the attackers, they are not able to use the previous keys to cheat or disuse the authenticated nodes. In addition, a bidirectional malicious node detection technique is employed which eliminates the malicious node from the network. By simulation, it is proved that the proposed technique provides efficient security with reduced energy consumption during node mobility.