Achieving Anonymity in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks Using Fuzzy Position Information

Traditionally the anonymity of an entity of interest can be achieved by hiding it among a group of other entities with similar characteristics, i.e., an anonymity set. In mobile ad hoc networks, generating and maintaining such an anonymity set for any ad hoc node are challenging because of the node mobility and consequently of the dynamic network topology. In this paper, we address the problem of the destination anonymity. We propose protocols that use fuzzy destination position to generate a geographic area called anonymity zone (AZ). A packet for a destination is delivered to all the nodes in the AZ, which, consequently, make up the anonymity set. The size of the anonymity set may decrease because nodes are mobile, yet the corresponding management on anonymity set is simple. We design techniques to further improve node anonymity. We use extensive simulation to study the node anonymity and routing performance, and to determine the parameters that most impact the anonymity level that can be achieved by our protocol.