A security analysis for wireless sensor mesh networks in highly critical systems

Nowadays, critical control systems are a fundamental component con-tributing to the overall performance of critical infrastructures in our soci-ety, most of which belong to the industrial sector. These complex systems include in their design different types of ICT (Information and Commu-nication Technology) systems, such as Wireless (Mesh) Sensor Networks, to carry out control processes in real-time. This fact has meant that sev-eral communication standards, such as Zigbee PRO, WirelessHART and ISA100.11a, have been specified to ensure coexistence, reliability and se-curity in their communications. The main purpose of this paper has been to review these three standards and analyze their security. We have iden-tified a set of threats and potential attacks in their routing protocols, and we consequently provide recommendations and countermeasures to help Industry protect its infrastructures