Enhanced AODV: Detection and Avoidance of Black Hole Attack in Smart Meter Network

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate malicious detection and avoidance of black hole attack for smart meter network. In terms of routing protocol, the reactive routing protocol Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) is commonly adopted for smart meter network and is considered in our paper. However, the default AODV is vulnerable to black hole attacks. To detect and avoid black hole attacks, we propose a new routing protocol, termed Enhanced Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (E-AODV) by modifying the Route Reply (RREP) system based on AODV. The RREP in E-AODV updates the destination sequence number corresponding to a fresh route request. By comparing sequence numbers from multiple replies, it detects the existence of black hole behavior because the attacker usually sends a much higher sequence number, compared to the actual one generated from the destination. After detection, the receiving meter sends a deny reply to the destination. Upon receipt of the deny reply, the destination regenerates RREP with an updated sequence number, which is kept to itself. Since attackers only respond when a new request is initiated, this time the attacker will not act because no request is initiated. Therefore, it is able to avoid the effects of malicious meter. Extensive simulations are carried out in NS3 to evaluate the performance of E-AODV. Results show that E-AODV obtains considerately higher performance in terms of packet delivery ratio and throughput compared with the default AODV routing protocol.