A game theory based approach for security in wireless sensor networks

Based on cooperative game theory, we propose a new technique for handling security issues in mobile wireless sensor networks. We define a game between sensor nodes and concentrate on three fundamental factors: cooperation, reputation and quality of security. Stronger cooperation between two nodes implies more reliable data communication between them. And the more a node cooperates the better is its reputation, which decreases when misbehavior is detected. When security of the network is compromised, the percentage of exposed traffic measures the quality of security of sensor nodes. By incorporating these three factors, we cluster the sensor nodes such that within a cluster, the payoff function of all sensor nodes are close to each other, where payoff is the largest possible individual gain for each sensor according to a defined utility metric. We define one strategy set for each node, which guarantees reaching to an equilibrium point for payoff function.