Analysis of Blackhole Attack in RPL-based 6LoWPAN Network: A Case Study

A Blackhole attack is a network isolation attack in which a malicious node discards all packets intended for forwarding. The presence of a Blackhole node increases the number of DIO packets which indicates network topology is unstable, whereas decreased DIO messages indicate a stable network. This paper examines the impact of a single Blackhole attack and colluding Blackhole attack on a 6LoWPAN network using four distinct scenarios, each with its own set of test cases. In a single Blackhole attack, the PDR decreases by up to 7.72%, the delay increases by 372.62%, the average power consumption increases by 122.58%, and the number of DIO messages increase 19.35% compared to the reference topology. Compared to the reference topology, the colluding Blackhole attack results in a maximum of 9.12% in PDR, a 549.65% increase in delay, a 170.98% increase in average power consumption, and a 25.6% increase in the number of DIO messages. The simulation results indicate that increasing the number of attacker nodes and their placement has a noticeable negative effect on the network performance. This study will aid researchers in developing a robust defense system for RPL-based networks against Blackhole attacks.