Rethinking Security Properties, Threat Models, and the Design Space in Sensor Networks

In recent years we have witnessed the emergence and establishment of research in sensor network security. The majority of the literature has focused on discovering numerous vulnerabilities and attacks against sensor networks, along with suggestions for corresponding countermeasures. However, there has been little guidance for understanding the holistic nature of sensor network security for practical deployments. In this paper, we discuss these concerns and give a research framework composed of the security properties of the sensor network, the threat model, and the security design space. In particular, we try to understand the application-layer goals of a sensor network, and provide a guide to prioritize our defenses against threats to these application-layer goals.