Exploring message authentication in sensor networks

Abstract

This paper explores the design space for message authentication in sensor networks. Several types of authentication are put into relation: end-to-end, hop-to-hop, and physical and virtual multipath authentication. While end-to-end authentication provides the highest and most general security level, it may be too costly or impractical to implement. On the other end of the security scale, hop-to-hop authentication can be implemented with little effort but provides security only to a highly restricted attacker. Multipath authentication provides an intermediate security level that may be appropriate for many applications of sensor networks, trading energy for security guarantees. Virtual multipaths offer an improvement, reducing energy demands while retaining crucial security properties of physical multipaths. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.