NIS02-1: Wormhole Attack in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks: Analysis and Countermeasure

The wormhole attack is one of the most severe security attacks in wireless ad hoc networks. In this paper, we analyze the effect of the wormhole attack in shortest path routing protocols. Using analytical and simulation results, we show that a strategic placement of the wormhole can disrupt on average 32% of all communications across the network. We also analyze a more severe attack in which several attackers make wormholes between each other and give an upper bound on the average number of communications that can be disrupted. Finally, we propose a new robust and secure on-demand distance vector routing protocol which is able to route packets as long as there is a non-faulty path between the source and the destination.