A Threshold Key Management Scheme for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks Using Elliptic Curve Dlog-Based Cryptosystem

Abstract—In mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs), traditionalsecurity solutions are not adequate due to the lack of infrastructureand the absence of centralized administration. In thispaper, a threshold key management scheme for MANETs ispresented. The proposed scheme is implemented using ellipticcurve dlog-based cryptosystem. In this scheme, an off-line centralauthority is required in the initialization phase before networkdeployment. The central authority creates and preloads theshares matrix for each mobile node in the network initializationphase. Each session member generates its private/public keypair, and the session public key by collaborating with its trustedneighbors. The generation of the node private/public key pair,and the session public key is performed without any priorcommunication between session members. The advantages ofthe proposed scheme are justified through extensive timing andnetwork simulations.