Malicious attacks on ad hoc network routing protocols

The main purpose of an ad hoc network routing protocol is to enable the transport of data packets from one point to another. This paper examines the potential attacks on this transport service which arise from the realisation of threats from internal malicious nodes. The prerequisite of a routing service is a distributed mechanism for the discovery and maintenance of routes; network integrity and availability are required to ensure the correct operation of an ad hoc network. This paper also provides a qualitative analysis of how proactive and reactive protocols cope with malicious internal attacks, and whether one type of protocol offers inherently better resistance to the various attacks than the other.