Secure Routing in AD HOC and Sensor Networks

Both mobile ad hoc networks and wireless sensor networks are gaining popularity due to the fact that they promise viable solutions to a variety of applications. A Mobile Ad hoc NET-work (MANET) consists of a collection of wireless hosts that are capable of communicating with each other without use of a network infrastructure or any centralized administration. A wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of tiny senor nodes with sensing, computation, and wireless communication capabilities. In sensor networks, hundreds or thousands of nodes with low-power, low-cost, and possibly mobile but more likely at fixed locations, collectively monitor an area. However, both MANETs and WSNs are vulnerable to different attacks due to their fundamental characteristics such as open medium, dynamic topology, absence of central administration, distributed cooperation, and constrained capability. Before mobile ad hoc and sensor networks can be successfully deployed, security issues must be addressed. In this chapter we introduce security attacks on MANETs and WSNs and review the recent approaches of secure network routing protocols in both mobile ad hoc and sensor networks.