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An ad hoc wireless network permits wireless mobile nodes to communicate without prior infrastructure. Due to the limited range of each wireless node, communication sessions between two nodes are usually established through a number of intermediate nodes. Unfortunately, some of these intermediate nodes might be malicious, forming a threat to the security or confidentiality of exchanged data. While data encryption can protect the content exchanged between nodes, analysis of communication patterns may reveal valuable information about end users and their relationships. Using anonymous paths for communication provides security and privacy against traffic analysis. To establish these anonymous paths, all nodes build a global view of the network by exchanging routing information. In dynamic ad hoc networks, building this global view is not an option. In this paper, we propose and analyze a distributed route construction algorithm for use in the establishment of anonymous routing paths in ad hoc wireless networks.

A mobile ad hoc network consists of mobile nodes that can move freely in an open environment. Communicating nodes in a wireless and mobile ad hoc network usually seek the help of other intermediate nodes to establish communication channels. In such an open environment, malicious intermediate nodes can be a threat to the security and/or anonymity of the exchanged data between the mobile nodes. While data encryption can protect the content exchanged between nodes, routing information may reveal valuable information about end users and their relationships. The main purposes of this paper are to study the possibility of achieving anonymity in ad hoc networks, and propose an anonymous routing protocol, similar to onion routing concept used in wired networks. Our protocol includes a mechanism to establish a trust among mobile nodes while avoiding untrustworthy nodes during the route discovery process. The major objective of our protocol is to allow only trustworthy intermediate nodes to participate in the routing protocol without jeopardizing the anonymity of the communicating nodes. We present our scheme, and report on its performance using an extensive set of simulation set of experiments using ns-2 simulator. Our results indicate clearly that anonymity can be achieved in mobile ad hoc networks, and the additional overhead of our scheme to DSR is reasonably low when compared to a nonsecure DSR ad hoc routing protocol.

Purpose-To arouse the public awareness of online gaming-related crimes and other societal influences so that these problems can be solved through education, laws and appropriate technologies. Design/methodology/approach-A total of 613 criminal cases of online gaming crimes that happened in Taiwan during 2002 were gathered and analyzed. They were analyzed for special features then focusing on the tendency for online gaming crime. Related prosecutions, offenders, victims, criminal methods, and so on, were analyzed. Findings-According to our analysis of online gaming characteristics in Taiwan, the majority of online gaming crime is theft (73.7 percent) and fraud (20.2 percent). The crime scene is mainly in internet cafés (54.8 percent). Most crimes are committed within the 12:00 to 14:00 time period (11.9 percent). Identity theft (43.4 percent) and social engineering (43.9 percent) are the major criminal means. The offenders (95.8 percent) and victims (87.8 percent) are mainly male and offenders always proceed alone (88.3 percent). The age of offenders is quite low (63.3 percent in the age range of 15-20), and 8.3 percent of offenders are under 15 years old. The offenders are mostly students (46.7 percent) and the unemployed (24 percent), most of them (81.9 percent) not having criminal records. The type of game giving rise to most of the criminal cases is Lineage Online (93.3 percent). The average value of the online gaming loss is about US$459 and 34.3 percent of criminal loss is between $100 and $300. Research limitations/implications-These criminal cases were retrieved from Taiwan in 2002. Some criminal behavior may have been limited to a certain area or a certain period. Practical implications-Provides a useful source of information and constructive advice for the public who will sense the seriousness and influence of online gaming crimes. Further, this topic may have implications on e-commence, e-services, or web-based activities beyond gaming. Originality/value-Since there is little published research in this area, this paper provides the public with a good and original introduction to a topic of growing importance.