ABSTACTAd hoc networks, such as sensor and mobile ad hoc networks, must overcome a myriad of security challenges to realize their potential in both civil and military applications. Typically, ad hoc networks are deployed in un-trusted environments. Consequently, authentication is a precursor to any secure interactions in these networks. Recently, numerous authentication protocols have been proposed for ad hoc networks. To date, there is no common framework to evaluate these protocols. Towards developing such a framework, this paper proposes a generic authentication process and a new taxonomy that clarifies similarities and differences among authentication protocols reported in the literature. The taxonomy is based upon the role of nodes in the authentication function, establishment of credentials, and type of credentials. We also motivate the need for an authentication management architecture and discuss some open research issues.

The rapid progress and the wide-spread use of the Internet and wireless communications in our professional endeavors and personal lives are making indispensable the need for ubiquitous authenticated connectivity for both mobile individuals and groups. In this paper, we present mGAP, a new protocol for mobile group authentication in wireless networks. mGAP predicts nodes' behavior and manages the authentication of mobile groups and individual nodes during roaming across administrative domains. Unlike most existing solutions, our design distributes the load between the mobile access points and the mobile nodes taking into account the mobile nodes' limited resources. Analysis of mGAP's security and performance is included in the paper.

The dynamic nature of operations in organizations has led to an interest in roles and permissions delegation to enable a seamless continuity of business. Delegation involves assigning a given set of access rights from one user to another. In existing role delegation models, delegation is often authorized and controlled by a relation that specifies who can delegate to whom. The usage of such relations in delegation models has some disadvantages; such as complexity of maintenance, error proneness, inconsistencies and inabilities to define some organizational policies related to delegation. In this paper, we propose a new delegation model that depends on organizational lines of authority to authorize and control delegation. The main advantages of this approach are that it simplifies the management of delegation authorization and complies with organizational behavior. Furthermore, it eliminates inconsistencies related to changes to roles and permissions.

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