LAA: Link-layer anonymous access for tactical MANETs

Link layer security has been widely researched in the last decade as a means of protecting wireless networks (e.g., WEP, RSN, WPA, WPA2). However, there is little research in this area for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), especially for tactical MANETs. Although RSN can be used for MANETs as described in the IEEE 802.11i standard, it fails to meet some requirements of tactical MANETs, such as strong security, anonymity, and quick connectivity. In this paper, we propose a link layer anonymous access protocol (LAA) in order to provide strong security and anonymity protection for tactical MANETs. The protocol uses dynamic pseudonyms as network and node identities for network access authentication to prevent tracking, tracing, and other common attacks. It uses a localized key management mechanism for local shared key and broadcast key establishment that outperforms the connectivity and efficiency of key management in RSN and other link layer security technologies such as SEAMAN. Simulations show that LAA has only a small effect on end-to-end delay and no effect on packet delivery ratio relative to the standard MAC, meanwhile providing anonymous communication, better protection and improved connectivity performance in the link layer for tactical MANETs.