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Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) form the backbone of the Internet of Things (IoT), enabling a wide spectrum of applications such as smart metering, environmental monitoring, industrial automation, and healthcare services. Despite their critical role, WSNs remain highly vulnerable due to their resource-constrained nature, reliance on open wireless channels, and frequent operation in unattended environments. These characteristics expose them to a wide range of security and privacy risks that threaten the reliability and trustworthiness of IoT ecosystems. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of communication-level vulnerabilities and corresponding defense mechanisms in WSN-enabled IoT. We systematically review key protocols, including IEEE 802.15.4, ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, and Bluetooth Low Energy, identifying their inherent weaknesses and mapping them to common attack vectors such as eavesdropping, replay, wormhole, and Sybil attacks. We classify countermeasures into lightweight cryptography, key management, secure routing, intrusion detection, and privacy-preserving aggregation. Comparative analysis and case study evidence are provided to evaluate performance trade-offs between security strength, resource consumption, and privacy guarantees. Our findings highlight that lightweight mechanisms can provide meaningful protection within constrained environments but leave open challenges regarding post-quantum resilience, AI-driven intrusion detection, and regulatory compliance. The survey concludes with a roadmap for advancing secure, privacy-preserving WSN communications to enable sustainable IoT adoption.

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A Survey of Security and Privacy Challenges in Wireless Sensor Network Communications for the Internet of Things

  • 会议论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Nabeel Alassaf,
  • Selvakumar Manickam,
  • Ammar Odeh,
  • Mohammed Anbar

摘要

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) form the backbone of the Internet of Things (IoT), enabling a wide spectrum of applications such as smart metering, environmental monitoring, industrial automation, and healthcare services. Despite their critical role, WSNs remain highly vulnerable due to their resource-constrained nature, reliance on open wireless channels, and frequent operation in unattended environments. These characteristics expose them to a wide range of security and privacy risks that threaten the reliability and trustworthiness of IoT ecosystems. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of communication-level vulnerabilities and corresponding defense mechanisms in WSN-enabled IoT. We systematically review key protocols, including IEEE 802.15.4, ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, and Bluetooth Low Energy, identifying their inherent weaknesses and mapping them to common attack vectors such as eavesdropping, replay, wormhole, and Sybil attacks. We classify countermeasures into lightweight cryptography, key management, secure routing, intrusion detection, and privacy-preserving aggregation. Comparative analysis and case study evidence are provided to evaluate performance trade-offs between security strength, resource consumption, and privacy guarantees. Our findings highlight that lightweight mechanisms can provide meaningful protection within constrained environments but leave open challenges regarding post-quantum resilience, AI-driven intrusion detection, and regulatory compliance. The survey concludes with a roadmap for advancing secure, privacy-preserving WSN communications to enable sustainable IoT adoption.