Classification and analysis of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC layer attacks

IEEE 802.15.4 Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) possess additional vulnerabilities in comparison with traditional wired and wireless networks, such as broadcast nature of wireless medium, dynamic network topology, resource- constrained nodes, lack of physical safeguards in nodes, and immense network scale. These inherent vulnerabilities present opportunities for attackers to launch novel and more complicated attacks against such networks. For this reason, a thorough investigation of the attacks which can be launched against WSNs is required. This paper provides a single unified survey that dissects all IEEE 802.15.4 MAC layer attacks known to date. While the majority of existing references investigate the motive and behavior of each attack separately, this survey addresses the interrelationships and differences between the attacks following their classification. The survey defines two main classifications for the attacks by combining and refining existing classifications of the attacks obtained from external references. The defined classifications are further extended by including additional attacks, which have been left out by other references, within the classifications. The authors' opinions and comments regarding the placement of the attacks within the defined classifications are also provided. A comparative analysis between the classified attacks is then performed with respect to a set of evaluation criteria defined within the paper.