Performance Analysis of Cryptography Algorithms in Wireless Sensor Network Based on Key Strength and Data Acceptance Probabilities

A multitude of fields and applications now make use of wireless sensor networks. Yet, despite their versatility and usefulness, these types of networks come with two major drawbacks: Firstly, due to the nature of the fact that they are wireless, this type of networks are very susceptible to attacks and intruders. The second major issue concerns that the limited and irreplaceable resources used in these networks do not generally allow for heavy computation, secure data packing, and sender authentications over an extended period. For these reasons, the selection of a suitable cryptography algorithm that provides an acceptable security level while keeping the use of network resources to a minimum is a task of vital importance. In this paper, the development of a model that allows for the comparison and evaluation of the encryption algorithms used in wireless sensor networks is presented. The model proposed assesses algorithms along two metrics: key strength probability and data acceptance probability. The results from the evaluation of the model using a simulation are encouraging, and we suggest that the model we propose will aid network administrators to select the most appropriate encryption algorithm, namely that which exceeds the desired security level for their network while simultaneously requiring the lowest amount of network resources possible.