Implementation of security mechanism in Wireless Sensor Network using Crossbow motes

Security is an important concern in any wireless network. This applies to Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), especially those used in applications that monitor sensitive information (e.g., health care applications). However, the highly constrained nature of sensors impose a difcult challenge: their reduced availability of memory, processing power and energy hinders the deployment of many modern cryptographic algorithms considered secure. For this reason, the choice of the most memory, processing and energy-efficient security solutions is of vital importance in WSNs. In this paper we implement a mesh network using low power Crossbow IRIS motes and analyse performance of DES and XTEA secutiry algorithms.