Evaluating Galois Counter Mode in Link Layer Security Architecture for Wireless Sensor Networks

Due to the severe resource constraints in the Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), the security protocols therein, should be designed to optimize the performance maximally. On the other hand a block cipher and the mode of operation in which it operates, play a vital role in determining the overall efficiency of a security protocol. In addition, when an application demands confidentiality and message integrity, the overall efficiency of a security protocol can be improved by using the Authenticated Encryption (AE) block cipher mode of operation as compared to the conventional sequential encryption and authentication. Amongst the AE block cipher modes, the Galois Counter mode (GCM) is the latest recommended AE mode by the NIST. In this paper, we attempt at evaluating the performance of the GCM mode in the link layer security protocol for a WSN viz. TinySec and compare it with the default conventional block cipher modes of operation used therein. To the best of our knowledge ours is the first experimental evaluation of Galois Counter Mode with Advanced Encryption Standard Cipher at the link layer security architecture for WSNs.