Enhanced Simulation Tool for ZigBee Security

The significance of ZigBee security is on the rise because of the growing reliance on wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and the need for secure communication. Ensuring security in ZigBee networks involves elements like key management, encryption, and safeguarding data across various stack layers. Developing simulators to replicate and visually represent network security processes is essential for enhancing the security and understanding of these networks. Lately, numerous simulators have been created to assess the efficiency of Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). However, among the simulators examined, none focused on the communication security of ZigBee devices at the application layer of the ZigBee stack.This paper presents an enhanced simulator to help analyze and improve network security by showing the key generation and exchange process, along with application layer encryption. The simulator employs 128-bit AES encryption in accordance with ZigBee standards and shows a graphical depiction of the application layer key request, generation, and receipt sequence. This allows users to examine diverse security contexts and visualize the results of standard and non-standard operational approaches.