Routing Attacks and Countermeasures in the RPL-Based Internet of Things

Abstract

The Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) is a novel routing protocol standardized for constrained environments such as 6LoWPAN networks. Providing security in IPv6/RPL connected 6LoWPANs is challenging because the devices are connected to the untrusted Internet and are resource constrained, the communication links are lossy, and the devices use a set of novel IoT technologies such as RPL, 6LoWPAN, and CoAP/CoAPs. In this paper we provide a comprehensive analysis of IoT technologies and their new security capabilities that can be exploited by attackers or IDSs. One of the major contributions in this paper is our implementation and demonstration of well-known routing attacks against 6LoWPAN networks running RPL as a routing protocol. We implement these attacks in the RPL implementation in the Contiki operating system and demonstrate these attacks in the Cooja simulator. Furthermore, we highlight novel security features in the IPv6 protocol and exemplify the use of these features for intrusion detection in the IoT by implementing a lightweight heartbeat protocol.