Providing robust and ubiquitous security support for mobile ad-hoc networks

TLDR

Mobile ad‑hoc networks face security challenges because wireless links are vulnerable to attacks, users demand ubiquitous services, and solutions must scale to large networks. The paper proposes a solution that delivers ubiquitous security services to mobile hosts, scales with network size, and resists break‑ins. The design distributes certification authority through threshold secret sharing among local neighbors, employs localized certification schemes, and periodically updates shares to enhance robustness. Simulations and implementation confirm the effectiveness of the proposed design.

Abstract

Providing security support for mobile ad-hoc networks is challenging for several reasons: (a) wireless networks are susceptible to attacks ranging from passive eavesdropping to active interfering, occasional break-ins by adversaries may be inevitable in a large time window; (b) mobile users demand "anywhere, anytime" services; (c) a scalable solution is needed for a large-scale mobile network. In this paper, we describe a solution that supports ubiquitous security services for mobile hosts, scales to network size, and is robust against break-ins. In our design, we distribute the certification authority functions through a threshold secret sharing mechanism, in which each entity holds a secret share and multiple entities in a local neighborhood jointly provide complete services. We employ localized certification schemes to enable ubiquitous services. We also update the secret shares to further enhance robustness against break-ins. Both simulations and implementation confirm the effectiveness of our design.