Secure Ad-Hoc Network

Eunjin Jung
ejung@cs.utexas.edu

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What is Ad-Hoc Network?
• Networks with no fixed
infrastructure
• Mobile nodes : communicate
within radio-range directly or
through routers
• Node mobility implies frequent
change in network topology.
• Rapidly deployed networks
• Relatively low cost
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 Challenges in Ad-Hoc
Network
• Mobility
– Restricted computing resource
– Restricted power resource
– Unreliable communication
• Ad-Hoc
– Transient states
– No trustworthy third party
– Often security protocol integrated
with others

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Security in Ad-Hoc Network
• Availability
– Sleep Deprivation Torture
• Power consumption is worse than
computing or network resource
consumption, because the device
cannot recover as soon as the attack
finishes
– Jamming
• Spectrum Spread Frequency Hopping

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Security in Ad-Hoc Network
• Confidentiality
– Easier to passively eavesdrop
– Cannot rely on expensive
cryptosystem
– Symmetric key cryptography is
used
– Small key, frequent update vs.
large key, intermittent update

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Security in Ad-Hoc Network
• Authorization
– Network resource
• Inherently vulnerable to bandwidth
stealing
• Should reject routing unauthorized
packet
– Transient states
• Security associations between
principals are transient
• Static authorization policy is unfeasible

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Security in Ad-Hoc Network
• Authentication
– Cannot rely on central server
– Neither on public key cryptography
– Should be adaptive to transient
authorization policy
– Should be swift to renew symmetric
key
– Pre-computed certificate
– Threshold cryptography
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Security in Ad-Hoc Network
• Integrity
– Similar to any communication
– Use traditional solution based on
symmetric key
• Non-Repudiation
– Based on public/private key
cryptography
– Hard to achieve with limited
computing resource
– Content with certificates
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 Challenges
 Use of wireless links leads ad hoc
networks susceptible to link
attacks
 Relatively poor protection, as in
battlefields
 So for high survivability,
distributed architecture needed.
 Dynamic network topology :
ROUTING
 Scalable security mechanisms
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 Secure Routing
• Basic Assumptions
– The underlying data link layer
provides reliable transmission on a
link basis
– Links are bidirectional
– A one-to-one mapping between
Medium Access Control and IP
address exists
– each transmission is received by all
neighbors, which are assumed to
operate in promiscuous (random)
mode. 10
Key Management Service
• Primary tier of servers
• Service has one private/public
key pair
• Each server has its own
private/public key pair
• Each server giving one share of
service private key
• The private key can also be
changed periodically
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Public key distribution for
Self-Organizing Systems
• Certificates stored and
distributed by users
– If A believes that given public key is
indeed B’s, A issues public key
certificate to B
• Construction of Trust Graphs
• Merging graphs to find path from
C to D, if C wants certificate of D
• Efficient Shortcut Hunter
algorithm
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 Future scope
• Use of smart cards for tamper-
resistant information storage
• Dynamic routing information
storage still a problem
• Only node contributing to the
benefit of community allowed to
use network

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 Conclusions
• Ad Hoc networks pose an
interesting problem in
networking with dynamic routing
and highly insecure working
environment
• Need of Secure, Scalable,
Reliable and Efficient algorithms
for Key management and
Routing
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 References
• Securing Ad Hoc Networks, Lidong Zhou (Department of
Computer Science)Zygmunt J. Haas (School of Electrical
Engineering), Cornell University Ithaca

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