TOGBAD-LQ - Using Challenge-Response to Detect Fake Link Qualities

The usage of link quality based routing metrics significantly improves the quality of the chosen paths and by that the performance of the network. But, attackers may try to exploit link qualities for their purposes. Especially in tactical multi-hop networks, routing may fall prey to an attacker. Such routing attacks are a serious threat to communication. TOGBAD is a centralised approach, using topology graphs to detect routing attacks. In this paper, we enhance TOGBAD with the capability to detect fake link qualities. We use a Challenge/Response method to estimate the link qualities in the network. Based on this, we perform plausibility checks for the link qualities propagated by the nodes in the network. Furthermore, we study the impact of attackers propagating fake link qualities and present simulation results showing TOGBAD’s detection rate. Digital Object Identifier 10.4230/OASIcs.KiVS.2011.85