Secure routing protocol over mobile Internet of Things wireless sensor networks

Abstract

A wireless Internet of Things (IoT) network is used for military operations due to its low cost and ease of deployment; however, one of the primary challenges with IoT networks is their lack of cohesive security and privacy protocols. For this thesis research, we successfully designed and developed a lightweight trust-based security algorithm to support routing in a mobile IoT wireless sensor network. The standard routing protocol for IoT, known as routing protocol for low power and lossy networks (RPL), was modified to include common security techniques, including a nonce identity, timestamp, and network whitelist, to ensure appropriate node authentication and to protect against Denial-of-Service- and Sybil-based identity attacks. In addition, our algorithm allows RPL to select a routing path over a mobile IoT wireless network based on a computed node trust value and average received signal-strength indicator (RSSI) value across network members. We conducted simulations using the Cooja network simulator to validate the algorithm against stipulated threat models. In addition, Wireshark was used for further packet analysis and inspection. We also analyzed the performance of the network when the trust algorithm is executed. The performance metrics studied include control overhead, packet delivery rate, and network latency.