A Bullet-Proof Verification Using Distributed Watchdogs (BPV-DW) to Detect Black Hole Attack in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Abstract

In mobile ad hoc networks, a malicious node can respond with a false Route Reply (RREP) message to the source, when it receives a Route Request (RREQ). Then, it can absorb data packets destined for destination. We propose a Bullet-Proof Verification using Distributed Watchdogs (BPV-DW) in which a detection node uses an encrypted verification message whose hop-by-hop delivery is watched by multiple watchdogs. In this approach, firstly, every node examines suspicious nodes by collecting a message or inspecting the data transmission behaviors of its neighbors. Secondly, upon receiving RREP from any suspicious node, a node verifies whether the suspicious node is a black hole node or not. This two-step approach not only pins down the black hole nodes, but also reduces control overhead significantly. We prove by resorting to simulation that the BPV-DW is highly dependable against the black hole attack.