A Deterministic Key Management Scheme for Securing Cluster-Based Sensors Networks

The main goal of Cluster-based sensor networks is to decrease system delay and reduce energy consumption. LEACH is a cluster-based protocol for micro sensor networks which achieves energy-efficient, scalable routing and fair media access for sensor nodes. However, the election of a malicious or compromised sensor node as the cluster head is one the most significant breaches in cluster-based wireless sensor networks. We propose a deterministic key management scheme, called DKS-LEACH, to secure LEACH protocol against malicious attacks. Our contributions are twofold. Firstly, we design and performed a theoretical evaluation of our security model which secures the setup and study phases of LEACH protocol. Secondly, using the TOSSIM simulator, we performed an evaluation of the power consumption of DKS-LEACH. The results indicate clear advantages of our approach in preventing the election of untrustworthy cluster head as well different kind of attacks from malicious sensor nodes.