Secure optimized link state routing (OLSR) protocol against node isolation attack

Abstract

In infrastructureless situations, various recent technologies in wireless networking have made it possible to construct a Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET). But it is more vulnerable to malicious attacks due to their inherent characteristics as compared to conventional wired network. In MANET, connectivity of mobile nodes which are not within the transmission range is also provided using routing. There are various routing protocols in MANET. Out of which Optimized Link State Routing protocol (OLSR) is widely used today. Node isolation attack is the major DOS attack which takes place against OLSR where attacker simply isolates the victim node from the entire network. So it is important to detect and mitigate node isolation attack and make the network secure for communication which will help to fight against cybercriminal activities. To detect and mitigate this Node isolation attack, OLSR protocol is modified by improving its MPR selection procedure. This modified OLSR protocol gives better results than Fictitious Node Mechanism. Modified OLSR decreases the required average MPR nodes by 0.21–0.23 %, average TC message size by 22–23 %, total energy consumption by 13–23 % and increases the Packet Delivery Ratio by 7–9 %.