Detection of Attacks in Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) is a new technology that is gaining importance among traditional wireless communication systems. Wireless Mesh Networks are becoming a reasonable choice to offer Internet access in an inexpensive, convenient, and quick way. However, WMNs are vulnerable to several kinds of attacks because of their inherent attributes such as the open communication medium. Malicious mesh devices can launch attacks to disrupt the network routing operations, then putting the entire mesh network at risk. This paper analyzes routing manipulation attacks against the proactive routing protocol Better Approach To Mobile Ad hoc Network (BATMAN). We demonstrate the feasibility of the attack in an emulated mesh network that consists of virtual nodes executing BATMAN protocol. Then, we show how to detect the attack by making use of traces produced by the mesh nodes.