ABSTRACT
Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) refer to a heterogeneous system combining tiny sensors and actuators with general-purpose computing elements. These tiny sensors have some limitations in power supplies, bandwidth, memory size and energy (Akyildiz et al., 2002a; Loveric & Sieffert, 2007). Thus, the resource-limited nature of sensor networks poses great challenges for security (Akyildiz et al., 2002b). Furthermore, these sensor networks have attracted much attention and are highly recognized for their utility in a wide range of applications. For example, in the military, WSNs have been used for some applications such as sensing techniques for military commands, control, communications, computing, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting systems. In healthcare, sensor nodes can also be used for monitoring patients and assisting disabled patients. In addition, there are lots of applications for WSNs including commercial applications for managing inventory, monitoring product quality and monitoring disaster areas (Datema, 2005; Undercoffer et al., 2002).
