A Comparative Study of Trust Management Models for Security Enhancement in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are now an important aspect of our everyday life, allowing us to daily communicate through dynamic data collection and transmission. However, the complicated nature and large scale of WSNs make them vulnerable to a range of cyber-attacks. To secure these networks, a reliable trust management framework must be established. This framework/model would ensure the security and reliability of WSNs by efficiently detecting and isolating malicious sensors. Numerous trust evaluation approaches have been proposed however, current research solutions are missing benchmark studies and comparative analyses that would enable researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of these trust frameworks in identifying malicious sensors. In this work, we perform a comparative analysis of our Semantic Trust Management (STM) model with three trust evaluation frameworks in the WSNs literature. The results from our evaluative comparison indicate that the STM model surpasses these models in its thoroughness of trust assessment, detection of malicious sensors, and effectiveness in countering sensor attacks.