Securing underwater wireless communication networks

Abstract

Underwater wireless communication networks are particularly vulnerable to malicious attacks due to the high bit error rates, large and variable propagation delays, and low bandwidth of acoustic channels. The unique characteristics of the underwater acoustic communication channel, and the differences between underwater sensor networks and their ground-based counterparts require the development of efficient and reliable security mechanisms. In this article, a complete survey of security for UWCNs is presented, and the research challenges for secure communication in this environment are outlined.