A feedback reputation mechanism to secure the optimized link state routing protocol

We consider the problem of securing routing information in Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs). Focusing on the Optimized Link State Routing protocol, we devise a feedback reputation mechanism which assesses the integrity of routing control traffic by correlating local routing data with feedback messages sent by the receivers of control traffic. Based on this assessment, misbehaving nodes are shown to be reliably detected and can be adequately punished in terms of their ability to communicate through the network. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first practical implementation of a reputation mechanism in a standardized proactive routing protocol for MANETs.