Fine-grained analysis of packet losses in wireless sensor networks

Packet losses in a wireless sensor network represent an indicator of possible attacks to the network. Detecting and reacting to such losses is thus an important component of any comprehensive security solution. However, in order to quickly and automatically react to such a loss, it is important to determine the actual cause of the loss. In a wireless sensor network, packet losses can result from attacks affecting the nodes or the wireless links connecting the nodes. Failure to identify the actual attack can undermine the efficacy of the attack responses. We thus need approaches to correctly identify the cause of packet losses. In this paper, we address this problem by proposing and building a fine-grained analysis (FGA) tool that investigates the causes of packet losses and reports the most likely cause of these losses. Our tool uses parameters, e.g. RSSI and LQI, present within every received packet to profile the links between nodes and their corresponding neighborhood. Through real-world experiments, we have validated our approach and shown that our tool is able to differentiate between the various attacks that may affect the nodes and the links.