Abstract:
An ad hoc network is a collection of infrastructureless nodes, cooperating dynamically to form a temporary network which meets certain immediate needs. The lack of infrastructure implies that the nodes are connected peer-to-peer. Therefore, each node acts as a router beside its main role as a host. With the increased number of mobile devices, the applications of ad hoc network increased dramatically to capture different domains such as: academic communication, and mobile conferencing beside its traditional domains such as: military communication, and emergency communication. Security issues become more challenging in ad hoc network due to its dynamic nature which allows any node to freely join as well as leave the network without having a physical address or getting permission. Ad hoc networks are vulnerable to different kinds of attacks such as: denial of services, impersonation, and eavesdropping. This paper discusses one of the security problems in ad hoc networks called the black hole problem. It occurs when a malicious node referred as black hole joins the network. The black hole conducts its malicious behavior during the process of route discovery. For any received RREQ, the black hole claims having a route and propagates a faked RREP. The source node responds to these faked RREPs and sends its data through the received routes. Once the data is received by the black hole, it is dropped instead of being sent to the desired destination. The proposed protocol is built on top of the original AODV. It extends the AODV to include the following functionalities: source node waits for a reliable route; each node has a table in which it adds the addresses of the reliable nodes; RREP is overloaded with an extra field to indicate the reliability of the replying node. The simulation of the proposed protocol shows significant improvement in the terms of: packet delivery ratio, number of dropped packets, and end-to-end delay. The overhead still needs more researches.
Page(s):
36-47
DOI:
DOI not available
Published:
Journal: International Journal of Communication Networks and Information Security, Volume: 3, Issue: 1, Year: 2011