Practical Algorithm for Data Security (PADS) in Wireless Sensor Networks

When data are generated in sensor networks, high-speed data streams travel through the network. Traditional security approaches are often unable to keep up with the rates of the streams or they introduce overhead, which shortens the life of the network. The approach proposed in this paper is one that solves the problems posed above. By embedding a one-time pad, the actual value is distorted enough to make any information gleaned from eavesdropping useless to an attacker. The use of the one-time pad ensures that the data were indeed received from a particular sensor, and it gives adequate protection against injected messages. The simulation shows this approach provides security with negligible overhead while the throughput is similar to the same network without security.