An Experimental Comparison and Impact Analysis of Various RPL-Based IoT Security Threats Using Contiki Simulator

The Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) is used by many Internet of Things (IoT) applications for routing because of its energy-efficient process, accessibility to secure modes, and adaptability to operate in various conditions. IoT devices are resource-constrained; therefore, RPL is prone to numerous threats that degrade network performance using various resources. This paper provides a detailed study of possible attacks for RPL. A taxonomy of RPL attacks that considers crucial factors like resources, topology, and traffic is provided for a better understanding. The novel contribution of this paper is the experimental comparison and analysis of the impact of a selected list of four higher-level threats: Sinkhole, Blackhole, Version Number, and DIS Flooding Attack on RPL routing performance in a given network scenario using Contiki/Cooja simulator.