Mobile ad hoc networking is a technology designed to ease the burden of network management through the use of distributed solutions. Whereas in the past the design of such networks was aimed at satisfying military scenarios, recent growing awareness of the scope for commercial use has accelerated research into high-performance, self-configuring ad hoc networks. However, the performance advantages that ad hoc networks offer are counterbalanced by security vulnerabilities, which are not present in conventional networking. This chapter discusses these vulnerabilities, focusing on the network layer, and presents a threat model classifying the types of threats to ad hoc networks. A variety of different security requirements can be extracted from the threat model. The latter part of the chapter discusses security mechanisms which have been proposed to satisfy these requirements, and identifies areas for future research.

Inspec keywords: telecommunication security; telecommunication network routing; mobile ad hoc networks

Other keywords: routing security; mobile ad hoc network technology; network management

Subjects: Mobile radio systems