Security Issues in MANET Routing Protocols and Their Solutions

Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANETs) are becoming increasingly popular as more and more mobile devices find their way to the public, besides ―traditional‖ uses such as military battlefields and disaster situations. They are being used step by step in every-day stages. With this increased usage of MANETs comes the need for making the networks secure as well as efficient, something that is not readily done as many of the demands of network security conflicts. Mobile ad-hoc networks are insecure due to its open medium nature, dynamic changes in network topology, co-operative algorithms, lack of centralized monitoring point and lack of a clear line of defence. Security has become a primary concern in order to provide protected communication between mobile nodes in an enemy environment. Unlike the wired networks, the Unique characteristics of mobile ad hoc networks pose a number of nontrivial challenges to security formation, such as open peer to peer network architecture, shared wireless medium, tough resource constraints, and highly dynamic network topology. Security issues rise in many different areas including substantial security, key management, routing and intrusion detection, many of which are important to a functional MANET. In this paper we have discussed the security issues related to the ad hoc routing protocols. The routing protocols with no proper routing function remains a key issue in ad hoc networks, the network readily will not work the way it’s intentioned to. Unfortunately, routing may also be one of the most difficult areas to protect against attacks because of the ad hoc nature of MANETs. We have also discussed the main security risks involved in ad-hoc routing as well as the solutions to these problems that are exist today. Keywords—Ad-hoc routing protocols; Routing protocol attacks; MANET security issues; Solution of routing protocol attacks; Security issues in ad-hoc routing protocols