Cluster-based wireless mobile ad-hoc network security

A wireless ad-hoc network is a cooperative communication network deployed with a specific purpose. It is characterized by dynamically changing topology with no fixed infrastructure which exhibits a perfectly vulnerable state for a number of different kinds of attacks. This thesis proposes a novel technique of achieving security in wireless mobile ad hoc networks by integrating a simple clustering and a voting mechanism together. The purpose of forming a cluster is to facilitate security in the network and the voting is performed to support the decision making process in the cluster. A procedure of forming small homogenous clusters throughout the network has been proposed and used to suggest different ways of intrusion detection and response. An effort has been made to show how these nodes can be dynamically grouped into clusters by using only the MAC layer. The fundamental premise of the proposed security scheme is based on the policy do not let neighbors cheat . Other key issues addressed in the thesis are managing the cluster, assessing performance of cluster members by performing comparative analysis of recorded statistics with the pre-existing values, and voting to decide the action required to be taken to keep the network safe