HASH Mechanism to Secure the AODV Protocol in MANETs

Abstract

Mobile ad-hoc networks are self forming network without any fixed infrastructure. An ad hoc network does not have fixed infrastructure, it means a network without the standard routing infrastructure like fixed routers and routing backbones. Since the network is self configuring it is prone to security problems [19]. One such aspect is Routing .The most widely used protocol for ad-hoc networks is DSDV and AODV. The routing protocol Ad hoc On Demand Distance Vector has been built without considering any security mechanisms. In AODV the updates are generated as per demand not on a periodic basis.The freshness of routing in AODV is recognized by the control packet which contains hop-count and sequence field. As the fields are editable, it creates a possible vulnerability that is recurrently abused by malicious nodes to advertise false enhanced routes. To improve the security there are some new mechanisms like hash chains and digital signature. To verify the correct functionality of the protocol it is implemented on NS2 simulator and performed extensive simulations and performance evaluations. This experimentation considers parameters such as packet delivery ratio, control overhead and throughput.