A Review on Cryptographic Techniques for Secure Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are increasingly deployed in critical applications such as environmental monitoring, healthcare, industrial automation, and military surveillance. Due to their distributed architecture and resource-constrained nodes, WSNs are highly vulnerable to security threats including eavesdropping, data tampering, replay attacks, and unauthorized access. Cryptographic techniques play a crucial role in protecting data confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and non-repudiation. This paper provides a comprehensive review of symmetric, asymmetric, and hybrid cryptography methods applied to WSNs, highlighting their advantages, limitations, and suitability for different network scenarios. Symmetric algorithms offer fast and energy-efficient encryption but face challenges in key management, while asymmetric methods ensure secure key distribution with higher computational costs. Hybrid approaches combine the strengths of both, providing balanced security and efficiency. The study also identifies existing research gaps, including the need for optimized hybrid schemes for resource-constrained environments and real-time applications. The insights presented can guide the design and implementation of secure and efficient WSNs.