Abstract
Multi-hop routing is essential to the operation of wireless ad hoc networks. Unfortunately, it is very easy for an adversary to forge or modify routing messages to inflict severe damage on the underlying routing protocol. In this paper, we present SEAR, a secure efficient ad hoc routing (SEAR) protocol for ad hoc networks that is mainly based on efficient symmetric cryptography, with asymmetric cryptography used only for the distribution of initial key commitments. SEAR uses one-way hash functions to protect the propagation of the routing messages. Intermediate nodes verify the routing messages by applying one-way functions, while malicious nodes cannot construct beneficial false routing messages when forwarding them. Route error (RERR) messages are protected through a variation of the TESLA broadcast authentication scheme. The SEAR protocol does not require any additional routing packet formats, and thus follows the same basic design as ad hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV). We show, through both theoretical examination and simulations, that SEAR provides better security with significantly less overhead than other existing secure AODV (SAODV) protocols.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 325-340 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Security and Communication Networks |
Volume | 2 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2009 |
Keywords
- Ad hoc networks
- Authenticator
- One-way hash function
- SEAR
- Secure routing
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Information Systems
- Computer Networks and Communications