Affiliations: [a] Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, George Mason University, MS 1G5, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA. E-mail: czourida@gmu.edu, mhejmo@gmu.edu, bmark@gmu.edu | [b] SPARTA, Inc., 5875 Trinity Parkway, Suite 300, Centreville, VA 20120, USA. E-mail: roshan.thomas@sparta.com
Abstract: In mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), a source node must rely on other nodes to forward its packets on multi-hop routes to the destination. Secure and reliable handling of packets by the intermediate nodes is difficult to ensure in an ad hoc environment. We propose a trust establishment scheme for MANETs, which aims to improve the reliability of packet forwarding over multi-hop routes in the presence of potentially malicious nodes. Using a Bayesian framework, each node assigns a “trustworthiness” value to each of its neighbor nodes based on direct observations of packet forwarding behavior. More generally, each node forms an “opinion” about each of the other nodes in the network, based on the set of trustworthiness values computed in the network. The opinion metric can be incorporated into ad hoc routing protocols to achieve reliable packet delivery even when a portion of the network exhibits malicious behavior. We present numerical results, which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed trust establishment scheme.
Keywords: Mobile ad hoc networks, trust establishment, routing
