Trust-group-based authentication services for mobile ad hoc networks

Abstract

In recent years, mobile ad hoc networks have received more attention, because of their easy deployment. However, the characteristics of mobile ad hoc networks are more prone to physical security threats than the wired network environments. Therefore, it has become a primary concern of securing mobile ad hoc networks. In this paper, we address the problem of authentication in mobile ad hoc networks. Public-key based mechanisms are ideal to provide the authentication services. Although this is already mature in a fixed network, providing public key based authentication is still very challenging in mobile ad-hoc networks because of shared wireless medium, energy constrains, dynamic network topology. Here, we present a more efficient public key management system, like self-organized scheme (S. Capkun et al., 2003), and include the concept of trust group for mobile ad hoc networks.