Steel, cast iron and concrete: Security engineering for real world wireless sensor networks

Abstract

What are the real security issues for a wireless sensor network (WSN) intended to monitor the structural health of a suspension bridge, a subway tunnel or a water distribution pipe? Could an attack on the sensor network cause the structure to collapse? How easy is it for civil engineers or other domain experts to build a secure WSN using commercially available hardware and software? We answer these questions by conducting a qualitative risk assessment with bridge and subway tunnel operators and by conducting penetration testing on commonly available commercial WSN hardware and software, namely the Crossbow MICAz motes running TinyOS and XMesh and communicating over IEEE 802.15.4. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.