Trust Establishment in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks: Direct Trust Distribution-Performance and Simulation

In the previous chapter, we discussed the distinct characteristics of ad hoc networks, which make them very difficult to secure. Such characteristics include: the lack of network infrastructure; no pre-existing relationships; unreliable multi-hop communication channels; resource limitation; and node mobility. We provided a theoretical background to mobile ad hoc networks and the security issues that are related to such networks. We defined the ad hoc networks and their characteristics in terms of trust establishment. As the focus of the two chapters is on the network layer, attacks specific to this layer are identified and explained in Chapter 1. We also presented a survey of the existing key management solutions for mobile ad hoc networks. The current chapter is a continuation for the previous one. This is why we start this chapter by Section-2 that offers a survey of the existing secure routing protocols for mobile ad hoc networks. This section makes a pertinent observation that most secure routing protocols assume some kind of key management authority exists. Mobile ad hoc networks have little fixed network architecture and it is unlikely that there is a centralised authority member. Section-2 of this chapter together with last section of the previous one identify the problem that the two chapters together are addressing. There exists secure routing mechanisms to address the unique characteristics of mobile ad hoc networks, however, these solutions assume that key management is addressed prior to network establishment. A novel, ondemand solution to the key management problem for mobile ad hoc networks is then described. Section-3 details the functionality and operation of the proposed model: “Direct Indirect Trust Distribution” (DITD). The DITD model focuses on the task of distributing keying information. The DITD model also includes a verification optimization protocol and trust evaluation metric, which maximises the security of distribution. The implementation and simulation of the DITD model is examined in Section-4. There are various packages used to compare existing and proposed routing protocols. One such