ModConTR: A modular and configurable trust and reputation-based system for secure routing in ad-hoc networks

Distributed wireless networks have become popular due to the evolution of the Internet-of-Things. These networks utilize ad-hoc routing protocols to interconnecting all nodes. Each peer forwards data for other nodes on the basis of network connectivity and a set of conventions that is determined by the routing protocol. Still, these protocols fail to protect legitimate nodes against several types of selfish and malicious activity. Thus, trust and reputation schemes are integrated with pure routing protocols to provide secure routing functionality. In this paper we propose ModConTR - a modular and adaptable trust and reputation-based system for secure routing. The system is composed of 11 different components which can be configured at runtime to adjust to each application's security and performance requirements. Presented work includes three possible configurations of ModConTR, considering ultra-lightweight, low-cost and lightweight implementations. Moreover, predefined configurations permit the implementation of the reasoning process for well-known secure routing protocols. Thus, we present a security and performance analysis for each of the components, including a comparative analysis of 10 complete trust and reputation schemes under identical attack scenarios. ModConTR is implemented using the NS2 simulator and is integrated with the DSR routing protocol.