Secure Node Localization in Mobile Sensor Networks

Secure node localization in wireless sensor networks (WSN) has become an important research topic. Although, Global Positioning System (GPS) based node localization has got significant attention from researchers, GPS-free node localization trend is evolving in recent times. GPS-free node localization in mobile sensor networks can be constructed in two ways: Beacon based (BB) and Without Beacon based (WBB). The BB approach has been studied extensively under adversarial model and many algorithms based on BB approach have been proposed in literature in order to localize nodes in a secure manner. In contrast, WBB approach for node localization under adversarial model has not received substantial attention from researchers. In this paper, the authors discuss WBB approach for node localization under adversarial model. The authors discuss static and dynamic key settings for node localization using WBB approach. The authors present an improved protocol for node localization in mobile sensor networks, aiming at minimizing the impact of node capture threats. The authors consider the LEAP (Localized Encryption and Authentication Protocol) (Zhu, Setia, & Jajodia, 2003) and the LOCK (Localized Combinatorial Keying) (Eltoweissy, Moharrum, & Mukkamala, 2006) as the building blocks of their proposed scheme. The authors show that the improved protocol provides effective node localization in a secure manner with minimal node capture threats.