Key management in wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor networks hold the promise of facilitating large-scale, real-time data processing in complex environments. As sensor networks edge closer towards widespread deployment, security issues become a central concern. Key management in wireless sensor networks is a challenging problem. Computationally complex asymmetric crypto techniques are unsuitable for use in resource-constrained sensor nodes and use of symmetric cryptography makes the entire network vulnerable in the event of node compromise. This paper presents a key management scheme that satisfies both operational and security requirements of distributed wireless sensor networks. The proposed scheme accommodates other techniques like data aggregation for energy efficiency and watch-dog mechanism for intrusion monitoring. Also, the proposed scheme is generic enough so that it can be applied to variety of sensor network protocols.