Requirements on worm mitigation technologies in MANETS

This study presents an analysis of the impact of mitigation on computer worm propagation in mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETS). According to the recent DARPA BAA - defense against cyber attacks on MANETS (A.K. Ghosh 2004), "one of the most severe cyber threats is expected to be worms with arbitrary payload that can infect and saturate MANET-based networks on the order of seconds". Critical to the design of effective worm counter measures in MANET environments is an understanding of the propagation mechanisms and the performance of the mitigation technologies. This work aims to advance the security of these critical systems through increased knowledge of propagation mechanisms, performance and the effect of mitigation technologies. We present both analytic and simulation analysis of mitigation effectiveness. The ultimate goal of these studies is to develop an accurate set of performance requirements on mitigation techniques to minimize worm propagation in tactical, battlefield MANETS.