A self-organizing approach to malicious detection in leader-based mobile ad-hoc networks

Task-based self-organizing algorithms have been proposed as a solution for the management of mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs). Such algorithms assign tasks to nodes by sequentially selecting the best nodes as leaders. Since the correct functionality of such algorithms depends on the truthfulness of participant nodes, any misbehavior can disrupt the operation of the network due to absence of a centralized monitoring unit. In this paper, we consider the problem of malicious behavior in leader-based MANETs. Current solution analyzes the behavior of the leader by means of some checker nodes. This approach is vulnerable since a malicious checker can ruin the character of a normal behaving leader, and declare it as a malicious one. We propose an efficient self-organizing mechanism which can detect a malicious behaving leader, while protecting a normal behaving leader from being declared as a malicious node. In addition, our mechanism is designed with no constraints on leader selection algorithm, which makes it applicable to any kind of leader-based network. We also provide several simulation results, showing that our proposed mechanism is efficient and effective even for large MANETs.