An Intrusion Detection System for Critical Information Infrastructures using Wireless Sensor Network technologies

Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) technology is being increasingly used for data collection in Critical Infrastructures (CIs). The paper presents an Intrusion Detection System (IDS), which is able to protect a CI from attacks directed to its WSN-based parts. By providing accurate and timely detection of malicious activities, the proposed IDS solution ultimately results in a dramatic improvement in terms of protection, since opportunities are given for performing proper remediation/reconfiguration actions, which counter the attack and/or allow the system to tolerate it. We present the basic ideas, discuss the main implementation issues, and perform a preliminary experimental campaign. Not only have experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed approach in protecting the system against two very serious attacks to WSNs (namely: sinkhole, and bogus packet), but they have also proved that the stringent requirements (in terms of limited availability of resources) which are typical of current state-of-the-art WSN technologies, are met.