Title: Clone attack detection and data loss prevention in mobile ad hoc networks

Authors: Ganapathy Mani

Addresses: Department of Computer Science, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

Abstract: Wireless ad hoc networks, mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) in particular, are not protected by tamper-resistant or equipped with high-storage-capacity hardware because of their low-cost and small size. So they are highly vulnerable to intrusion, node compromise, physical capture attacks and data loss. Due to harsh environments where these devices operate, they face data loss and reduced data availability, and if captured by an attacker, the devices can easily be compromised and cloned. The cloned devices will have the same identity as legitimate devices and interact with other devices to compromise them. In this paper, we propose two mechanisms: 1) novel clone attack detection scheme - log in log out detection (LLD) and system-wide announcement detection (SWAD) using low-energy dynamic (LED) clustering; 2) combinatorial replication and partition (CORP) of data - pairwise balanced design property of combinatorial arrangement - to prevent data loss. These mechanisms can be extrapolated to geospatial networks as well.

Keywords: mobile ad hoc networks; MANETs; data loss; clone attacks; replica attacks; combinatorial design; data replication; data availability; fault tolerance; mobile networks; attack detection; network security; geospatial networks.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSC.2015.067978

International Journal of Space-Based and Situated Computing, 2015 Vol.5 No.1, pp.9 - 22

Received: 21 Dec 2013
Accepted: 25 May 2014
Published online: 31 Mar 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article