Title: Empowering IoT security: an innovative handover-driven node selection approach to tackle conscious mobile eavesdropping

Authors: Jin Qian; Hui Li; Yan Huo; Xiaoshuang Xing

Addresses: School of Information Engineering, Taizhou University, Taizhou, 225300, China ' School of Information Engineering, Taizhou University, Taizhou, 225300, China ' School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, 100044, China ' School of Computer Science and Engineering, Changshu Institute of Technology, Suzhou, 215506, China

Abstract: In the era of IoT proliferation, securing interconnected systems is crucial. Physical layer security (PLS) holds promise within the IoT context. However, most existing solutions have disregarded the mobility of eavesdroppers, a common occurrence in practical network environments. To confront this challenge, we present a handover-driven node selection strategy aimed at safeguarding downlink transmissions from a controller to an actuator. This strategy leverages a cluster of controllers to ensure reliable communication and counteract mobile conscious eavesdroppers. To comprehensively address the issue, we introduce a conscious eavesdropping model (CEM) tailored to depict real-world mobile wiretapping scenarios. In a bid to confound the mobile eavesdropper, we devise a handover-driven node selection strategy, optimising it by maximising both handover efficiency and network-wide secrecy energy efficiency (NSEE). Experimental results conclusively establish the efficacy of our proposed node selection strategy, shedding light on the security-reliability trade-off and delay-efficiency trade-off when compared to conventional handover strategys.

Keywords: physical layer security; PLS; handover-driven node selection strategy; conscious eavesdropping model; CEM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSNET.2024.136692

International Journal of Sensor Networks, 2024 Vol.44 No.2, pp.84 - 98

Received: 02 Oct 2023
Accepted: 02 Nov 2023
Published online: 16 Feb 2024 *

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