Emmanouil A. Panaousis

Securing AODV against wormhole attacks in emergency MANET multimedia communications

The nature of Mobile Ad hoc NETworks (MANETs) makes them suitable to be utilized in the context of an extreme emergency for all rescue teams. We use the term emergency MANETs (eMANETs) in order to describe Next Generation Networks (NGNs) which are deployed in emergency cases such as forest fires and terrorist attacks. Secure routing in MANETs is critical. Due to the absence of a central authority, intermediate nodes act as routers forwarding packets across a multihop path. A well known attack against the conventional operation of routing protocols such as the Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol, is the wormhole attack. Secure routing in eMANETs is critical due to the fact that secure multimedia communications should be established among the devices of the recovery workers. In this paper we propose a novel routing mechanism called AODV-Wormhole Attack Detection Reaction AODV-WADR to defend eMANETs against wormhole attacks. Our simulations are carried out using the network simulator ns-2 and they show that AODV-WADR does not introduce high overhead, reducing significantly the amount of packet loss caused by malicious wormhole nodes. These are critical requirements for eMANETs where lightweight security mechanisms should be applied and malicious activities should be circumvented.

A game theoretic approach for securing AODV in emergency Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

In many extreme emergency cases such as forest fires or tube terrorist attacks, the rescuers have difficulty using traditional legacy networks due to destruction or collapse of the infrastructure in such events. We use the term emergency Mobile Ad hoc NETworks (eMANETs) in order to describe Next Generation Networks (NGNs) which are deployed in emergency cases. The security of these networks is critical. Especially secure routing is important given the fact that potential attackers aim to disrupt the appropriate operation of the routing protocol within an eMANET. In this paper we propose a game theoretic approach called AODV-GT (AODV-Game Theoretic) and we integrate this into the reactive Ad hoc On-demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing protocol to provide defense against blackhole attacks. AODV-GT is based on the concept of non-cooperative game theory. AODV-GT outperforms AODV in terms of malicious dropped packets when blackhole nodes exist within the eMANET. Our simulations were implemented using the network simulator ns-2.

Security model for emergency real-time communications in autonomous networks

Towards the proliferation of architectures, tools and applications that have the potential to be used during an emergency rescue mission, we present a framework for emergency real-time communication using autonomous networks, called emergency Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (eMANETs). By eMANETs we refer to networks that are deployed in emergency cases where default telecommunications infrastructure has failed. Our goal is to design a security framework that will secure real-time communications during emergency rescue scenarios. The proposed framework consists of a secure routing protocol, intrusion detection provision and security extension for real-time communications using peer-to-peer overlays. We envisage that the results of this work will aid and serve the needs of any society against any event that threatens serious damage to human welfare or to the environment.

Standardisation advancements in the area of routing for mobile ad-hoc networks

Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs) are self-organized and fully distributed networks that rely on the collaboration of participating devices to route data from source to destination. The MANET paradigm is expected to enable ubiquitous mobile communication and thus the proliferation of pervasive applications. The MANET Working Group (WG) of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is responsible for standardizing an appropriate Internet Protocol (IP) based routing protocol functionality for both static (mesh) and dynamic (mobile) wireless ad hoc network topologies. In this paper, we provide a background on the possibility to use MANETs for enabling future pervasive internet and innovative ubiquitous services. We also describe the work achieved by the MANET WG thus far on the area of secure unicast and multicast routing for MANETs. We also examine non-IETF work on this area, chiefly based on adaptive and hybrid routing. The paper then presents comparative performance evaluations of discussed routing protocols. It is mainly observed that there is a need for adaptive hybrid routing approaches in order to support future innovative and pervasive applications. Consequently, we present our conclusions.

End-to-End Security Protection

The IEEE 802.16 standard (mobile broadband wireless access system), which is also known as worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), is one of the latest technologies in the wireless world. The main goal of WiMAX is to deliver wireless communications with quality of service (QoS) guarantees, security, and mobility. In this article, we have evaluated the performance of the Internet Protocol security (IPSec) over WiMAX networks. We have also illustrated the results of the simulations. We have also depicted the processing time and the throughput introduced when IPSec is applied over WiMAX technology (IEEE 802.16).

Secure decentralised ubiquitous networking for emergency communications

Our modern densely populated cities have created an Achilles heel for public safety services where natural or man-made disasters often result in high casualties. The 2005 London bombings have exposed the inadequacy of current First Responder (FR) communication systems for modern response operations. Additionally, FR organisations presently pay a tariff each time Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) communication technologies are used, rendering current PPDR communication expensive as compared to emerging license-exempt IP-based technologies. Decentralised ubiquitous networking proposes an alternative way of providing innovative secure wireless systems for IP-based, infrastructure independent PPDR communications. The ad-hoc setup capabilities of ubiquitous systems will reduce the cost for emergency response whilst allowing more flexible ways of communicating. Key characteristics of such systems are their ease of deployment and the interoperability across FR teams for national as well as cross border operations. In this paper we discuss how decentralised ubiquitous networking can assist emergency communications.

An Efficient Power Control Algorithm for Supporting Cognitive Communications in Shared Spectrum Areas

The concept of Cognitive Radio (CR) is meant to be utilised by both licensed and license-exempt users that coexist in a shared spectrum area whenever they need to avoid causing unaffordable interference to each other by following some rules. In fact, primary users should be protected by any license-exempt transmission. To this end, power control is a pivotal mechanism to be used for interference management in these scenarios. Especially, transmit power control is a vehicle to mitigate interference, in presence of CR technology, when primary receivers are attempting to reach a desired Signal-to Interference Noise Ratio (SINR) level. In this work we assume that a CR network relies on the same spectrum area with a primary network. Our scope is to measure the introduced interference level caused by the CR transmitter and to properly modify its power to allow a legacy user to reach a required SINR according to location of the primary user in presence of interference. A series of results are presented to prove the efficiency of our proposed scheme.