Emergence in the security of protocols for mobile ad-hoc networks

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the study of secure wireless routing protocols, which have been deployed for the purpose of exchanging information in an adhoc networking enviromnent. A discrete event simulator is developed, utilising an adaptive systems modelling approach and emergence that aims to assess networking protocols in the presence of adversarial behaviour. The model is used in conjunction with the characteristics that routing protocols have and also a number of cryptographic primitives that can be deployed in order to safeguard the information being exchanged. It is shown that both adversarial behaviour, as well as protocol descriptions can be described in a way that allows for them to be treated as input on the machine level. Within the system, the output generated selects the fittest protocol design capable of withstanding one or more particular type of attacks. As a result, a number of new and improved protocol specifications are presented and benchmarked against conventional metrics, such as throughput, latency and delivery criteria. From this process, an architecture for designing wireless routing protocols based on a number of security criteria is presented, whereupon the decision of using particular characteristics in a specification has been passed onto the machine level