Security Architecture for MANETs

Abstract

For the past several years, mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) security has been an ongoing research subject. MANETs have diverse topology, limited resources, restricted bandwidth, as opposed to wired networks, and are typically implemented outside in emergency situations where landscape plays an important role. MANETs are vulnerable to insider and intruder attacks and carry with them new security problems not present in the wired networks. The main difference is that each node in MANET serves as a network-wide router and routes traffic. Compromising a single node can have a major impact on network performance. We present our security architecture for MANETs in this paper that secures important network aspects. We take the concept of trust into the network and nodes are protected by various mechanisms specifically tailored for use in the distributed environment. We use OMNeT+ to simulate networks. Analyses use delays measured on the actual hardware and we examine network performance during various loads on the data plane and the control plane.