Security-enhanced key establishment schemes using network coding

The conventional works on secret key distribution in the wireless sensor network have mainly focused on the application layer approaches. Recently, some researchers are studying the more efficient key distribution using the characteristics of lower layers such as network layer and physical layer. Oliveira and Barros proposed an approach to secret key distribution based on network coding of the network layer in 2008. The Oliveira-Barros scheme is a robust and low-complexity solution for sharing secret keys among sensor nodes, but every node in this scheme exposes its own secret key to other sensor nodes. In this paper, we identify two weak points resulting from the disclosure of the secret key and a flaw in their cluster key distribution scheme. We then propose security-enhanced schemes for session key and cluster key establishment using network coding operations.