Security Issues with Mobile adhoc Networks MANETS Fred

Security Issues with Mobile adhoc Networks (MANETS) Fred Usinoronmwan Joshua Bolaji Stephen Adesiyan Syed Rashid

Project Proposal ● The purpose of this project is to highlight the security vulnerabilities associated with Mobile ad-hoc Networks (MANETS). ● Also we will discuss the possible attacks and security infrastructure of Manets.

Introduction ● MANET stands for Mobile ad-hoc Network also referred to as wireless ad-hoc network or ad-hoc wireless network that usually has a routable networking environment on top of a Link Layer ad hoc network. They consist of set of mobile nodes connected wirelessly in a self configured, self healing network without having a fixed infrastructure. MANET nodes are free to move randomly as the network topology changes frequently. Each node behave as a router as they forward traffic to other specified node in the network. ● Ad hoc Networks(MANETs) is a type of mobile networks that encompasses the wireless mobile nodes for communication. These wireless mobile nodes organize themselves dynamically in arbitrary and volatile topologies. In such instance a wireless system which can transmit information from a source to destination, considering the mobility of the nodes in mind, is important. That is the case because a node can receive a packet of data that is sent within its frequency range. So, when the nodes are mobile, the receiving node can move out of frequency range at anytime. It allows people and devices to inter network in areas with no preexisting communication infrastructure.

MANETs The main characteristics of MANETs are used in the following areas 1. Self-organizing and self-managing 1. Military Battlefield 2. Most or all of the nodes are mobile 2. Sensor Networks 3. Network topology changes 3. Commercial Sector 4. Wireless 4. Medical Service 5. Node is both a host and a router 5. Personal Area Network

CHARACTERISTICS OF MANETs ● Dynamic Topologies: Network topology which is typically multi-hops, may change arbitrarily and quickly with time, it can form unidirectional or bidirectional links. ● Bandwidth constrained, variable capacity links: Wireless links typically have less reliability, efficiency, stability and capacity compared to wired network. The throughput of wireless communication is even less than a radio’s maximum transmission rate after dealing with the constraints like multiple access, noise, interference conditions, etc. ● Autonomous Behavior: Each nodes can act as a host and router, which shows its autonomous behavior. ● Energy Constrained Operation: As some or all the nodes rely on batteries or other exhaustible means for their energy, Mobile nodes are characterized with less memory, power and light weight features. ● Limited Security: Wireless network are more susceptible to security threats. A centralized firewall is absent due to its distributed nature of operation for security, routing and host configuration. ● Less Human Intervention: They require minimal human intervention to configure the network, therefore they are dynamically autonomous in nature.

ATTACKS ON MANETs ● In MANET, there are different kinds of attacks which are done by the attackers which are always tries to reduce the performance of network. The Mobile Ad-hoc network is more vulnerable to various attacks not from outside but also from within the network itself. ● There are two types of major attacks in MANET which are following as below. (1) Internal attacks (2) External attacks ● Internal attacks- These attacks are targeted directly on that nodes which are worked in network already and also attacks on links interface between them. These internal attacks sometimes may broadcast wrong type of routing information to other nodes. It is generally more difficult to handle these types of attacks compared to other attacks. The malicious nodes generate the wrong routing information so these nodes are more difficult to detect.

HOW ATTACKS ON MANETs WORKS

VULNERABILITIES OF MANETs • No Secure Boundaries In a wired network, “attackers” have to get physical access to the network medium. They may even have to go through layers of firewall and gateway. But, in MANETs, it is easy to gain access to the network, provided the node is in frequency range. Consequently, MANETs do not provide secure boundary. • Power and Computational Limitations Wired networks can get electric power supplies, however on account of wireless networks, there is restricted power supply. Thus, any node in a network may act selfish, if it has limited power supply

• VULNERABILITIES OF MANETs Cooperativeness The regular presumption about routing algorithms in MANETs is that the nodes cooperate and are nonmalicious. Therefore, a malicious attacker can easily become a fundamental routing agent and interfere with system activities by ignoring the convention details

SECURITY MECHANISMS IN MOBILE AD HOC NETWORKS In General there are two kinds of security techniques in MANET, which are intrusion detection and secure routing techniques. • Intrusion Detection An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is an indispensable part of a security system and is mainly introduced to detect possible violations of the security policy by monitoring system activities and responding to those that are apparently intrusive. If an attack is detected once in the network, a response is initiated to avoid or curtail the damage to the system. • Secure Routing There are numerous kinds of attacks against the routing layer in the mobile ad hoc networks, some of which are more sophisticated and harder to detect than others, such as Wormhole attacks and Rush attacks.

Conclusion MANET infrastructure is dynamic in nature and having no centralized administration, it makes this network more vulnerable to attacks. In this paper, we have discussed various type of attacks and these are classified as active and passive attacks and ways to try to mitigate threats associated with these security flaws. In future, we will try to implement security algorithm along with routing protocols, which help to reduce the effect of different attacks.