Authentication and node level security management in mobile Ad Hoc network

Inherent freedom due to lack of central authority of self-organized mobile ad hoc networks introduces challenges to security and trust management. Arguably, trust management is the most critical security issue in mobile ad hoc networks. If nodes do not have any prior knowledge of each other, trust establishment becomes complicated. In situations like this, the nodes themselves should be responsible of their own security – or they could trust certain known nodes, “micro-operators.” In this paper we discuss trust establishment methods for both “operator-controlled” and self-organized mobile ad hoc networks. We also discuss a model for security management in self-organizing mobile ad hoc networks that is based on high level of nodes’ own responsibility and node-level security monitoring.