Security in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Network: Focus on Suitable Encryption Mechanisms

Underwater acoustic sensor network (UWASN) technology is advancing recently, and research is increasing rapidly. UWASN can be applicable to many fields such as underwater monitoring, underwater resource exploration, ocean data collection, and military purposes. Existing terrestrial wireless sensor network security mechanisms have not been applied to UWASNs due to interference such as multipath propagation, signal fading, limited bandwidth, slow data rates, and long transmission delays. UWASNs also require security mechanisms and algorithms to maintain data confidentiality and integrity. Security-related research is being actively conducted, but it is still in its nascent stages. Therefore, when considering a UWASN protocol stack, the application layer, when sending data to its sub-layer, needs to encrypt the payload for information security. In this paper, we consider the requirements and security issues of UWASNs. We also discuss applicable security algorithms that are suitable for UWASN.