Reputation-enhanced two-way hybrid algorithm for detecting attacks in WSN

Abstract

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are susceptible to a variety of attacks, such as data tampering attacks, blackhole attacks, and grayhole attacks, that can affect the reliability of communication. We proposed a reputationenhanced two-way hybrid algorithm (RCHA) that uses cryptographic hash functions and reputation-based trust management to detect and de-escalate attacks accurately. The RCHA algorithm implements two hash functions RACE integrity primitives’ evaluation message digest (RIPEMD) and secure hash algorithm (SHA-3), to initiate the integrity check for the entire packet sent across the network. Every node in the WSN tracks a reputation score for each neighbor the node is connected to, and this score is dynamically updated based on the behavior of each neighbor. If a neighboring node’s reputation drops below a threshold, the node is sent a maliciousness designation. At that time, the node will broadcast an alert message to its neighboring nodes and begin to reroute its data through one of its trusted neighbors to ensure the reliability of the communication. The simulation results reported that the RCHA algorithm improved the accuracy of the attack detection rate and the number of packets delivered compared to traditional attack detection methods. The RCHA algorithm was able to maintain low computational and energy overhead for the WSN, making it an attractive option for a resource-constrained application in a WSN. Given the trends towards more collaborative networks, the reputation mechanism in the RCHA algorithm improves the overall reliability and capabilities of the WSN, regardless of adversaries.