IETE Technical Review
Vol 23, No 6, November-December 2006, pp 335-344

A Review of Security in Mobile
Ad hoc Networks


CHARU GANDHI

Apaji Institute of Mathematics and Applied Computer Technology,
Banasthali Vidyapeeth, Banasthali 304 022, India.

AND

MAYANK DAVE, MIETE

Department of Computer Engineering, National Institute of Technology,
Kurukshetra 136 119, India.

In mobile ad hoc networks (MANET), the communicating nodes do not rely on fixed infrastructure which results into several challenges. The power and computational resources are limited in these networks, making security requirements different from wired or infrastructured networks. As mobile ad hoc networks use wireless links, the network is susceptible to link attacks ranging from passive eavesdropping to active impersonation, message replay and message dropping. When the nodes are mobile, they not only lack physical security but they can also be compromised easily because there is no central entity in mobile ad hoc networks. In addition, as mobile ad hoc networks are often designed for specific environments for example battlefields, the security solutions applied in traditional networks are not directly suitable for protecting them. This paper reviews various issues and techniques involved in the security of mobile ad hoc networks.
 

1. INTRODUCTION

MOBILE ad hoc networks (MANET) [1, 2] are networks offering unrestricted mobility without any underlying infrastructure. Mobile ad hoc network is a collection of autonomous nodes or terminals communicating with each other by forming a multihop network. MANET have found their applications in providing extremely flexible method of establishing communications in situations where, geographical
constraints demand a totally distributed network system without any fixed base station such as military operations, battlefields, remote areas etc. The following features characterize these networks:

Dynamic Topologies

In MANET, the nodes are free to move independently in any direction. The network topology may change randomly at unpredictable times and primarily consists of bidirectional links.

Bandwidth Constraint Operation

These networks have lower capacity than fixed infrastructure networks.

Paper No 76-B; Copyright © 2006 by the IETE.


 

The throughput of wireless communication is lesser than wired communication because of the effect of the multiple access, ading, noise, interference conditions.

Limited Resources

The nodes or hosts here operate on small batteries and other exhaustible means of energy. So energy conservation is the ost important design optimization criteria.

Decentralized Control

The working of MANET depends upon cooperation of participating nodes thus, implementation of any protocol that involves a centralized authority,
becomes difficult.

2. ROUTING IN MANET

The primary goal of MANET is to establish a correct and efficient route between a pair of nodes and to ensure the correct and timely delivery of packets. The protocols for routing can be classified as proactive/ table driven, reactive/on-demand and hybrid.

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