Hydroponic Shield: Safeguarding Farming Systems with Interleaved Honeypot-Framing and MAC Security

Abstract

Introduction: Hydroponic farming relies heavily on Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) for monitoring and automation, making secure communication protocols essential. The Hydroponic Medium Access Control (HMAC) protocol manages data frame exchanges in such environments. However, conventional MAC-layer security solutions remain susceptible to sophisticated attacks, posing risks to data integrity and network stability. Addressing these vulnerabilities is critical to ensure reliable and secure operations in hydroponic farming systems.

Objectives: The primary objective of this research is to enhance the security and reliability of HMAC protocols in hydroponic farming by introducing a reactive intrusion detection and prevention framework. The goal is to safeguard data transmissions against channel-based attacks through advanced, node-level security mechanisms while maintaining efficient network performance.

Methods: To achieve the stated objectives, we propose a novel Honeypot-Framing Model for HMAC protocol (HFM-HMAC). This model integrates distributed honeypot engines within sensor nodes, enabling proactive detection and mitigation of intrusion attempts. A key innovation is the use of Wireless Interleaved Honeypot Frames (WIHFs), supported by a secure hash-based random frame-interleaving technique. These elements allow dynamic conversion of Interleaved Honeypot Frames (IHFs) into legitimate sequences, effectively deceiving and isolating potential attackers. Furthermore, neighbor-based intrusion alert systems are implemented to facilitate cooperative defense mechanisms.

Results: Extensive simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of HFM-HMAC in securing hydroponic WSN environments. Compared to existing security-enhanced MAC protocols such as WIHFM, SZ-MAC, and BASR, the proposed HFM-HMAC model achieves a performance improvement ranging from 20% to 25%. Key metrics evaluated include attack mitigation rate, packet delivery ratio, latency, and energy consumption, all of which show significant enhancement under the HFM-HMAC protocol.

Conclusions: The HFM-HMAC framework introduces a robust wireless honeypot methodology tailored for the unique requirements of hydroponic farming communication systems. By leveraging node-centric honeypot mechanisms and secure frame-interleaving, the proposed approach effectively counters open-channel attacks and enhances overall MAC-layer resilience. The simulation results validate the practical potential of HFM-HMAC as a superior security model, paving the way for more secure and intelligent agricultural networks.