Secure positioning of wireless devices with application to sensor networks

So far, the problem of positioning in wireless networks has been mainly studied in a non-adversarial setting. In this work, we analyze the resistance of positioning techniques to position and distance spoofing attacks. We propose a mechanism for secure positioning of wireless devices, that we call verifiable multilateration. We then show how this mechanism can be used to secure positioning in sensor networks. We analyze our system through simulations.

I. Introduction

Recently, researchers have proposed a number of positioning and distance estimation techniques for wireless networks [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]. However, they all studied these techniques in non-adversarial settings. Distance estimation and positioning techniques are, nevertheless, highly vulnerable to attacks from compromised nodes and external attackers. Compromised nodes can report false position and distance information in order to cheat on their locations. External attackers can modify (spoof) the measured positions and distances of wireless nodes.