Most recent ad hoc network research has focused on providing routing services without considering security. In this paper, we detail security threats against ad hoc routing protocols, specifically examining AODV and DSR. In light of these threats, we identify three different environments with distinct security requirements. We propose a solution to one, the managed-open scenario where no network infrastructure is pre-deployed, but a small amount of prior security coordination is expected. Our protocol, ARAN, is based on certificates and successfully defeats all identified attacks.

Abstract-Initial work in ad hoc routing has considered only the problem of providing efficient mechanisms for finding paths in very dynamic networks, without considering security. Because of this, there are a number of attacks that can be used to manipulate the routing in an ad hoc network. In this paper, we describe these threats, specifically showing their effects on AODV and DSR. Our protocol, named Authenticated Routing for Ad hoc Networks (ARAN), uses public-key cryptographic mechanisms to defeat all identified attacks. We detail how ARAN can secure routing in environments where nodes are authorized to participate but untrusted to cooperate, as well as environments where participants do not need to be authorized to participate. Through both simulation and experimentation with our publicly-available implementation, we characterize and evaluate ARAN and show that it is able to effectively and efficiently discover secure routes within an ad hoc network.