Handbook on Securing Cyber-Physical Critical Infrastructure

Chapter 10

Defending Against Physical Attacks in Wireless Sensor Networks

Jin Teng, Wenjun Gu, Dong Xuan

10.1 Introduction

In this chapter, we study the issue of defending sensor networks against physical attacks. We define physical attacks as those that physically destroy sensors or otherwise render them permanently inoperable. Sensor networks are important to the security surveillance and military agenda, and the security of sensor networks is vital to the success of these missions. Physical attacks pose a clear and present danger to security-related applications. The focus of this chapter is to design effective defense mechanisms for protecting sensor networks against physical attacks. The representative scenario of physical attacks is one ...