SCFS-securing flying ad hoc network using cluster-based trusted fuzzy scheme

Abstract

Flying Ad hoc Networks have emerged as a promising technology for number of real-time applications. However, the flexible and unstructured characteristics of these networks make them vulnerable to security threats posed by malicious nodes, such as denial of service attacks, node impersonation, and information breaches. Another major issue is the consideration of those nodes being unable to prove their trustworthiness due to factors like hardware or software failure, or by link interruptions, during the processing of detection of false nodes in the network. The existing mechanisms encompassing encryption, authentication, and intrusion detection highlight limitations to secure real-time applications and services due to the high speed of flying nodes and the absence of fixed network structures. To overcome these constraints, this research paper incorporates a novel framework for evaluating and improving the security of network by introducing an innovative cluster-based approach. Moreover, it presents a fuzzy model that dynamically estimates the trust levels of both individual nodes and clusters, by assigning weight to the parameters to address vulnerabilities. Additionally, a trust reconfiguration mechanism is further proposed to address the issue of nodes unable to substantiate their trust by providing them with additional chances based on the collective trust from previous evaluations. Further, the paper incorporates a dynamic reputation system to proficiently identify and separate malicious and selfish nodes from the network. Simulation results indicate a significant improvement in performance metrics, with a considerable reduction in delay and drop ratio by 41.46% and 36.37%, respectively, while the sufficient rise of 54.71% and 46.05% in throughput and coverage, respectively, comparing with the considered state-of-art.