A comprehensive survey on the security of low power wide area networks for the Internet of Things

Abstract

While the spreading of the Internet of Things continues beyond expectations, the security of networking technologies used in this context remains an open issue. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the art on the security of Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWANs), with a focus on Sigfox, LoRaWAN, and Narrowband Internet of Things. The paper covers five main areas: (1) security requirements and their implementation in these networks, such as authentication, encryption, access control, and key management; (2) categorization of attacks and threat modeling, with the identification of the attack vectors and the presentation of an attack categorization and analysis; (3) a detailed explanation of attacks documented on Sigfox, LoRaWAN, and Narrowband Internet of Things, examining the underlying vulnerabilities exploited, outlining potential consequences, and discussing countermeasures proposed to mitigate these attacks; (4) security enhancements proposed to address vulnerabilities in each network; (5) the integration of LPWANs with 5G and the consequent security challenges. This survey constitutes an important and missing resource for the study and the development of secure Internet of Things solutions based on Low Power Wide Area Networks, raising awareness of potential threats, and guiding future research efforts towards strengthening the security of these networks and of the broader IoT landscape.