Prevention of sleep deprivation attack in MANET using cumulative priority based cluster head selection

Abstract

SummaryIn the rapidly evolving domain of Mobile Ad‐hoc Networks (MANETs), where their deployment spans critical military operations to essential organizational communication infrastructures, the pervasive threat of security breaches casts a long shadow on the networks' operational integrity and reliability. Central among these threats are sleep deprivation attacks, a particularly insidious form of cyber aggression that exploits the inherent decentralized and self‐organizing characteristics of MANETs to exhaust the energy reserves of nodes, compromising the network's stability and performance. This paper embarks on a journey to confront this challenge head‐on, introducing a pioneering and holistic defense mechanism that integrates a cumulative priority‐based model for the selection of cluster heads, ingeniously augmented by the principles of Chebyshev's Inequality for optimal load balancing. This novel strategy is designed not only to counteract the direct impacts of sleep deprivation attacks but also to address the underlying vulnerabilities of MANETs that these attacks exploit. Through a rigorous series of simulations, conducted across a spectrum of network scenarios to test the resilience and adaptability of our proposed model, we have observed a commendable success rate of 98% in neutralizing sleep deprivation attacks. By leveraging the dynamic nature of MANETs and integrating advanced statistical methods for load distribution and cluster management, our model offers a robust framework that significantly improves network performance and energy efficiency. This, in turn, fosters a more sustainable and reliable network environment, crucial for the high‐stakes applications MANETs support. By championing a comprehensive and adaptable approach to security, this study promises to reinstate user trust and ensure the continued reliability of these indispensable networks, securing their place as a cornerstone of modern communication infrastructure in the face of evolving cyber threats.