Trojans in Wireless Sensor Networks

As the demand for cheaper electronic devices has increased, the location of manufacturing foundries has changed to untrusted places outside of the United States. Some of these locations have limited oversight of the manufacturing of complicated and sensitive electronic components including integrated circuits (IC). IC, a key component in all current electronic devices, can be modified to be malicious or to monitor the functions of their applications. These malicious modifications are called Hardware Trojans. Hardware Trojans can be de- signed to quietly monitor, to actively send out unencrypted sensitive information, or to actively destroy their host device. Our research demonstrates the ability of Hardware Trojans to infiltrate a sensor network that could be remotely deployed for various applications. This research is important due to the dearth of knowledge on the subject. Currently, software security is given great importance. Our research shows that the same level of importance must be given to hardware to ensure a trusted and secure environment