Improving IoT Network Longevity with Attack Repellent Energy (SARE) Algorithm for Energy-Efficient and Secure Routing

The current IoT architecture necessitates energy-efficient and secure routing algorithms, particularly in wireless infrastructures where the risk of security issues is elevated.One of the significant challenges is the lack of precise knowledge about the residual energy of nodes, which leads to complications in the Cluster Head (CH) selection process.This research addresses the problem by proposing an attack-repellent algorithm that identifies potential CHs with accurate knowledge of residual energy, while minimizing computational overhead for security purposes.The proposed Secure Attack Repellent Energy (SARE) algorithm selects CHs based on the K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) algorithm, which evaluates residual energy by considering the battery voltage attached to each node.This algorithm also incorporates key renewal and a secure key exchange mechanism to enhance security, with frequent link key exchanges bolstering the network's robustness against attacks.SARE algorithm introduces a novel method for CH selection that reduces the likelihood of incorrect selections due to imprecise energy information, thereby extending the network's operational lifespan.In addition to energy efficiency, the algorithm emphasizes security by frequently updating encryption keys to guard against potential breaches, ensuring that even if a key is compromised, the damage is limited to a short timeframe.To demonstrate its effectiveness, the SARE algorithm is compared with the Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchical routing (LEACH) and TSRF algorithms.Results show that the SARE algorithm significantly outperforms these existing protocols.The SARE algorithm extends the network's lifetime by 1.15 times longer than the classical LEACH protocol and improves network throughput by 1.42 times compared to the LEACH routing protocol.Additionally, the SARE algorithm effectively mitigates HOTSPOT and Energy Hole issues, which are common problems in wireless sensor networks.