A trust model based on evidence-based subjective logic for securing wireless mesh networks

Abstract

Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) is a promising networking technology, which is cost effective, robust, easily maintainable and provides reliable service coverage. WMNs do not rely on a centralized administration and have a distributed nature in which nodes can participate in routing packets. Such design and structure makes WMNs vulnerable to a variety of security threats. Therefore, to ensure secure route discovery in WMNs, we propose a trust model which is based on Evidence- Based Subjective Logic (EBSL). The proposed trust model computes trust values of individual nodes and manages node reputation. We use watchdog detection mechanism to monitor selfish behavior in the network. A node's final trust value is calculated by aggregating the nodes direct and recommendation trust information. The proposed trust model ensures secure routing of packets by avoiding paths with untrusted nodes. The trust model is able to detect selfish behavior such as black-hole and gray-hole attacks.