MAC layer security of 802.15.4-compliant networks

Abstract

The paper discusses security issues of networks compliant with the recent IEEE 802.15.4 standard for low rate WPANs. A number of vulnerabilities at the MAC and PHY layer are identified, and a number of possible attacks at the MAC layer are outlined, some of which can be easily launched with devices that are fully compliant with the 802.15.4 standard. Some remedial measures are proposed to help defend against those attacks or at least alleviate their impact on the performance of the network