Blockchain-Based Secured LEACH Protocol (BSLEACH)

Abstract

In Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), malicious nodes can infiltrate the network at any time, compromising network performance. Developing a secure routing protocol is critical for ensuring reliable data transmission. LEACH (Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy) is a well-established hierarchical routing protocol within the WSN paradigm. However, LEACH lacks robustness against security attacks due to the absence of integrated security mechanisms, making it vulnerable in the presence of malicious nodes. On the other hand, Blockchain, an emerging technology, is best suited for Wireless Sensor Networks due to its distributed, decentralized, immutable, and traceability features. Integrating blockchain with WSNs significantly enhances security, data integrity, and decentralization within the network. Integrating blockchain technology with WSNs significantly enhances security, data integrity, and decentralization within the network. In this paper, we introduce a Blockchain-enabled secure LEACH protocol to ensure reliable data transmission in wireless sensor networks. The proposed hybrid blockchain framework includes three phases: Registration, Authentication, and Malicious Node Detection. By utilizing the autonomous execution capabilities of smart contracts without third-party intervention, we develop specific smart contracts for the registration of cluster heads and ordinary nodes, for authentication between cluster heads and their corresponding ordinary nodes, and for the identification and elimination of malicious cluster head nodes. A detailed security analysis of the proposed BSLEACH framework is provided to provide its robustness against different network attacks such as Man-in-the-Middle attack, Sybil attack, Replay attack and non-repudiation.In performance evaluation, it is observed that the proposed Blockchain-based Secured LEACH (BSLEACH) protocol outperforms other versions of LEACH such as Sleach (Secure low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy) and Ms-leach (A routing protocol combining multi-hop transmissions and Single-hop transmissions) in the presence of malicious cluster heads and Sybil nodes in the network. The proposed solution improves the performance of the traditional LEACH protocol by identifying and removing malicious Cluster head units from the Private Blockchain network.