Wang, LijuanYang, Mee LoongPetrova, Krassie2026-01-082026-01-082025-12-16Electronics Switzerland, ISSN: 2079-9292 (Print); 2079-9292 (Online), MDPI AG, 14(24), 4933-4933. doi: 10.3390/electronics142449332079-92922079-9292http://hdl.handle.net/10292/20458Wireless sensor networks (WSNs), including Software-Defined Wireless Sensors, are particularly vulnerable to Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. Trust models are widely acknowledged as an effective strategy to mitigate the threat of successful DoS attacks in WSNs. However, existing trust models commonly rely on threshold configurations that are based on the network administrator’s experience and leave the challenging task of weight allocation for various trust metrics to network users. This limits the widespread application of trust models as a WSN defence mechanism. To address that issue, this study proposes and theoretically analyses an Adaptive, Threshold-Free, and Automatically Weighted Trust Model (ATAW-TM) for SDWSNs. The model architecture is aligned with the layered centralized management architecture of SDWSNs, which makes it flexible and enhances its responsiveness. The proposed model does not require manual threshold configuration and weight allocation and allows for rapid trust system recovery. It has significant advantages compared to existing trust models and is potentially more feasible to implement on a large scale.© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).40 Engineering4009 Electronics, Sensors and Digital Hardware0906 Electrical and Electronic Engineering4009 Electronics, sensors and digital hardwaredenial-of-service attackstrust modelsoftware-defined wireless sensor networksSDWSNstrust value weight allocationautomatic threshold determinationJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.3390/electronics14244933