Trust-enhanced secure multipath routing for mobile ad hoc networks

Abstract

Due to recent advances in computing and communication technologies, Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) are becoming networks of choice for various applications such as emergencies [sic] preparedness and response, military and crisis management, and healthcare, to name a few. The main reason for this is that in MANET, information exchange between nodes can happen dynamically without pre-exisiting fixed network infrastructure with designated centralized access points. However, this privilege also comes with some security drawbacks, especially from a message security viewpoint because the implementation of hard-cryptographic security now becomes a challenging prospect. In this thesis, we improve a recently proposed method of message security in MANET (so called benchmark scheme, also referred to as trust-based multipath DSR routing scheme), by introducing a trust model that makes multi-path routing flexible enough to avoid non-trusted routes that may use brute force attacks to decrypt messages travelling through the network en route to their destinations. Simulation results, coupled with theoretical justification, affirm that the proposed solution is much more secured than the above-mentioned benchmark method and traditional multi-path routing algorithms.