A trust-based routing framework in energy-constrained wireless sensor networks

As wireless sensor networks continue to grow, so does the need for effective security mechanisms. The classical mechanisms, namely authentication and encryption, can prevent some outsider attacks; however, these mechanisms are inefficient in detecting selective forwarding attacks on compromised nodes. On the basis of these observations, we build a trust model to evaluate nodes behavior. Based on the trust model, a routing framework, TRUSTEE, is further proposed for secure routing. TRUSTEE provides a flexible and feasible approach to evaluate routes' quality and chooses route that best meets the security requirements. Keeping into mind the critical resource constraint nature of sensor network, we do not adopt the energy-consuming monitoring and trust recommendations mechanisms. Simulation and analysis verify TRUSTEE's performance, it not only minimizes resource consumption but also can prevent most outsider attacks, defend selective forwarding attacks and thus significantly increase the network throughput.