Securing wireless sensor networks from denial-of-service attacks using artificial intelligence and the CLIPS expert system tool

Wireless sensor networks consist of a number of autonomous sensor nodes which are deployed in various areas of interest to collect data and cooperatively transmit that data back to a base station. Wireless sensor networks have been used in military applications, environmental monitoring applications, healthcare applications, and even home applications. An adversary may want to disrupt these sensor networks for various reasons. Adversaries range from a hacker with a laptop to corporations and governments who have a vested interest in compromising the proper operation of an unwelcome sensor network. Since sensor nodes are small and usually placed in uncontrolled environments, they are susceptible to capture and reprogramming by an adversary. The low-power nature of sensor nodes make traditional strong encryption approaches to network security infeasible as nodes have limited processing power and sometimes significant energy constraints. This paper presents work in progress on developing a system which would protect a wireless sensor network from denial-of-service attacks after one or more nodes on the network have been captured and reprogrammed by an adversary. This system removes the need to rely on tamper proof packaging to protect the cryptographic keys and other sensitive data which is stored on nodes. With the proposed system, even if cryptographic keys are obtained by an attacker and are used to send false routing information or other spurious control information, the network will be able to identify such malicious nodes by using artificial intelligence and an expert system developed using the C Language Integrated Production System tool.