Group Key Management in Wireless Sensor Networks: Introducing Context for Managing the Re-keying Process

Abstract

This paper proposes an algorithmic solution to Group Key Management (GKM) in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), which could address a single point of failure in cybersecurity. The paper moves away from the traditional (de)centralized and distributed solution in GKM and focuses on GKM decision making based on a) the context in which WSN and their nodes communicate, and b) the semantic which describe the environment where WSN and their nodes reside. The proposed algorithm defines which node, within the WSN, could start a re-keying process by generating a group key, and why/how this decision on the re-keying has been made. The algorithm is computable and thus it would be feasible to implement it in software applications built upon a set of WSN nodes in constantly changeable and dynamic mobile computing environments.