research-article

Deployment-aware modeling of node compromise spread in wireless sensor networks using epidemic theory

Authors:

Pradip De,

Yonghe Liu,

Sajal K. DasAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks (TOSN), Volume 5, Issue 3

Article No.: 23, Pages 1 - 33

https://doi.org/10.1145/1525856.1525861

Published: 04 June 2009 Publication History

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Abstract

Motivated by recently surfacing viruses that can spread over the air interfaces, in this article, we investigate the potentially disastrous threat of node compromise spreading in wireless sensor networks. We assume such a compromise originating from a single infected node, can propagate to other sensor nodes via communication and pre-established mutual trust. We focus on the possible epidemic breakout of such propagations where the whole network may fall victim to the attack. Using epidemic theory, we model and analyze this spreading process and identify key factors determining potential outbreaks. In particular, we perform our study on random graphs precisely constructed according to the parameters of the network, such as distance, key sharing constrained communication and node recovery, thereby reflecting the true characteristics therein. Moreover, a comparative study of the epidemic propagation is performed based on the effects of two types of sensor deployment strategies, viz., uniform random and group-based deployment. The analytical results provide deep insights in designing potential defense strategies against this threat. Furthermore, through extensive simulations, we validate the model and perform investigations on the system dynamics. Our analysis and simulation results indicate that the uniform random deployment is more vulnerable to an epidemic outbreak than the group based deployment strategy.

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Reviews

Reviewer: Yan Liu

A wireless sensor network (WSN) is typically composed of spatially distributed sensors to monitor physical or environmental conditions. Each node in this network is equipped with a wireless signal transmitter and receiver; thus, information detected by sensors can be transmitted node by node to the central processing unit (CPU). This architecture provides an easy route for computer viruses to spread over air interfaces. Therefore, substantial work has focused on defending against virus propagation in such a network. De, Liu, and Das investigate the process of node compromise spreading in WSNs. They propose an analytical model to estimate the probability of a breakout and the number of affected nodes. Three key factors are introduced for the first time: the pairwise key scheme used in the network, the node deployment scheme of the network, and the node recovery strategy. The analytical results indicate that a uniform random deployment is more vulnerable to virus propagation than a Gaussian deployment, and the pairwise key scheme and the node recovery strategy can impact the spreading of the epidemic and the recovery speed of the whole network. The authors perform extensive simulations and verify their conclusions. The main contribution of the paper is the derivation of the analytical model to describe the epidemic propagation process in WSNs, by considering three key factors that are missing from other models. The model proposed provides potential solutions in network design and optimization, to fight the spreading of viruses. Online Computing Reviews Service

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cover image ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks

ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks Volume 5, Issue 3

May 2009

284 pages

ISSN:1550-4859

EISSN:1550-4867

DOI:10.1145/1525856

Issue’s Table of Contents

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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Publication History

Published: 04 June 2009

Accepted: 01 June 2008

Revised: 01 July 2007

Received: 01 January 2007

Published in TOSN Volume 5, Issue 3

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https://doi.org/10.1515/phys-2023-0190
Liu PDin A(2024)Comprehensive analysis of a stochastic wireless sensor network motivated by Black-Karasinski processScientific Reports10.1038/s41598-024-59203-314:1Online publication date: 16-Apr-2024
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Modeling Node Compromise Spread in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Epidemic Theory

Group-based key predistribution for wireless sensor networks

Compromise-resilient anti-jamming communication in wireless sensor networks

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