Security of predefined groups in MANETs

Abstract

MANETs (Mobile Ad hoc NETworks) allow to deploy networks without any preexisting infrastructure. They are appealing approach for battlefield and emergency networks since they permit to easily interconnect the units that are engaged on the field. An unit is a predefined group of trusted users working together to accomplish a specific task. In this paper, we propose an approach that allows to deal with such predefined groups in MANETs. Our approach consists in dividing the MANET in groups of trusted nodes: the nodes of a given group belong to the same predefined group (i.e., the same unit), and communications between them only rely on nodes of this group. By using crypto-graphic functions, we extend the ad hoc routing protocol so as to ensure the security of the communications between the members of a predefined group even if they are scattered on the field. Copyright 2007 ACM.