Preferred Name
Mauricio Tellez
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
ORCID
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6988-7357
Date of Graduation
Spring 2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Department of Computer Science
Advisor(s)
M. Hossain Heydari
Samy El-Tawab
Abstract
With the rapid technological advancements of sensors, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have become the main technology for the Internet of Things (IoT). We investigated the security of WSNs in an environmental monitoring system with the goal to improve the overall security. We implemented a Secure Temperature Monitoring System (STMS), which served as our investigational environment. Our results revealed a security flaw found in the bootstrap loader (BSL) password used to protect firmware in the MSP430 MCU chips. We demonstrated how the BSL password could be brute forced in a matter of days. Furthermore, we illustrate how an attacker can reverse engineer firmware and obtain copies of cryptographic keys. We contributed a solution to improve the BSL password and better protect firmware found in the MSP430 chips. The Secure-BSL software we contributed allows the randomization of the BSL password. Our solution increases the brute force time to decades. The impractical brute force time improves the security of firmware and prevents future reverse engineering tactics. In addition, our Secure-BSL software supports two-factor authentication that allows developers to specify a user-defined passphrase to further protect the MSP430 MCU. Our research serves as proof that any security implemented in a WSN environment is broken if an attacker has access to firmware found in sensor devices.
Recommended Citation
Tellez Nava, Mauricio, "Improving the security of wireless sensor networks" (2016). Masters Theses, 2010-2019. 87.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/87
Included in
Computer and Systems Architecture Commons, Digital Communications and Networking Commons, Hardware Systems Commons, Other Computer Engineering Commons, Other Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons, Systems Engineering Commons
