Date of Publication :7th December 2015

Abstract: Key management is the provisions made in a cryptography system design that are related to generation, exchange, storage, safeguarding, use, vetting, and replacement of keys. It includes cryptographic protocol design, key servers, user procedures, and other relevant protocols. Key management concerns keys at the user level, either between users or systems. Successful key management is critical to the security of a cryptosystem. In practice it is arguably the most difficult aspect of cryptography because it involves system policy, user training, organizational and depart mental interactions, and coordination between all of these elements. These concerns are not limited to cryptographic engineering. Key management requires both technical and organizational decisions, and as a result, some aspects of key management risk being neglected by managers and engineers, out of concern that the problem is technical or managerial, respectively. As wireless sensor networks continue to grow, so does the need for effective Security mechanisms. Because sensor networks may interact with sensitive data and operate in hostile unattended environments, it is imperative that these security concerns be addressed from the beginning of the system design .However, due to inherent resource and computing constraints , security in sensor networks posses different challenges than traditional network or computer security. There is currently enormous research potential in the field of wireless sensor network security. Key has an important role in cryptographic security issues.. This paper presents a survey on various existing key management schemes for wireless sensor networks.

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