Protocols for Secure Communication in Wireless Sensor Networks

2.2. Sensor Node Characteristics 13
Personal health data is of very sensitive nature, which most people would
refuse to give away freely. It could be used to assess the lifestyle of a person or
get hints on former and present diseases. Such data must therefore be protected
against unauthorized access.
Military surveillance Military applications of wireless sensor networks include
battlefield surveillance, where large numbers of nodes are deployed over territory
through which enemy forces may move, treaty monitoring, and others
[144]. The sensor network could autonomously differentiate between friendly
and enemy vehicles, and report the number of vehicles detected as well as
their speed and direction.
Security in the military domain is of paramount importance, since accurate
information is key to effective actions and for avoiding own losses. If it were
possible to manipulate the reports of a sensor network, forces may be misguided
and could give the enemy an advantage.
Logistics Wireless sensor networks can be used in logistics, for example for
monitoring the transport and storage conditions of goods. A prominent example
is the cold chain for food [153, 43]. Being able to acquire more accurate and
more timely data may not only increase consumer safety, but also reduce costs
for product recalls.
The highly fragmented, highly competitive markets in the food industry
seem to encourage sloppy handling of products, and sometimes even criminal
actions take place. WSNs have the potential to deter such actions, if it can be
ensured that the reported data is not falsified, which requires adequate security
measures in all involved information systems, including sensor networks.
2.2 Sensor Node Characteristics
In this thesis, we aim at providing security mechanisms for sensor networks that
are applicable as widely as possible. We therefore make as few assumptions
as possible about the supported types of networks. The security mechanisms
should be effective even in the most basic configuration.
Adopting the classification scheme of [157], our model can be characterized
with the parameters shown in table 2.1. The unlisted categories (deployment,
mobility, energy, modality, coverage, lifetime) have no direct impact on the security
mechanisms that are proposed later, although they could be relevant with
regard to other security mechanisms. The listed parameters are understood as