Countering sinkhole and black hole attacks on sensor networks using Dynamic Trust Management

Wireless sensor networks consisting of spatially distributed autonomous devices required to survive in unprotected environments. They are always susceptible to attack by malicious behavior of its routers (nodes) or external enemy nodes which could negatively affect secured routing and QoS and hence, vital wireless multimedia applications. In recent times, a lot of specific severe attacks have been proposed that makes such networks highly vulnerable, such as Sinkholes, the Black hole Attack, etc. However, currently, most security protocols are based on resisting a single attack without a systematic defense against dual and continuous attacks. There is a high possibility that the enemy would try several methods i.e. multiple attacks to compromise the same system in case a particular attack is thwarted. In this paper, we use our dynamic trust management system [DTMS] to propose methods that could counter two such severe attacks on sensor networks. Our major intent is to analyze an attackerpsilas strategy, develop DTMS and show that it is integrated enough to counter both the threats single-handedly. This ensures that network architectures and protocols do not require redefinition for every specific attack. As a consequence, significant time, effort and cost is saved in refraining from relaying the network with different defenses for different attacks every time.