Network Security Testing Using Mobile Agents

This paper describes a prototype security testing tool that is currently under development at NIST. This prototype tool uses autonomous mobile agents to perform distributed, fault-tolerant, and adaptive network security testing. The security testing prototype is compared to existing methods, the design goals are outlined, its testing methodology is described, and the advantages and disadvantages of using mobile agents for security testing are discussed

Threshold-based intrusion detection in ad hoc networks and secure AODV

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) play an important role in connecting devices in pervasive environments. MANETs provide inexpensive and versatile communication, yet several challenges remain in addressing their security. So far, numerous schemes have been proposed for secure routing and intrusion detection, with only simulations to validate them; little work exists, in implementing such schemes on small handheld devices. In this paper, we present our approach of securing a MANET using a threshold-based intrusion detection system and a secure routing protocol. We present a proof-of-concept implementation of our IDS deployed on handheld devices and in a MANET testbed connected by a secure version of AODV over IPv6 – SecAODV. While the IDS helps detect attacks on data traffic, SecAODV incorporates security features of non-repudiation and authentication, without relying on the availability of a Certificate Authority (CA) or a Key Distribution Center (KDC). We present the design and implementation details of our system, the practical considerations involved, and how these mechanisms can be used to detect and thwart malicious attacks

Detecting and Blocking Unauthorized Access in Wi-Fi Networks

Abstract. Academic and commercial 802.11 hotspots often use an SSLsecured captive portal to authenticate clients. Captive portals provide good usability and interoperability, but poor security. After a captive portal has authenticated a client, session hijacking and freeloading allow attackers to capture or use the client’s session. Freeloading does not require special tools and, surprisingly, is strengthened by the (widely recommended) use of personal firewalls. We propose and evaluate novel defenses against these attacks, session id checking and MAC sequence number tracking, both of which are transparent to clients and do not require changes in client computers. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed defenses are effective against the mentioned attacks and have little overhead.

Testing Applications in MANET Environments through Emulation

Mobile Ad Hoc Network solution testing is typically done using simulation. The simulated code is generally a simplified version of the real code, and thus code porting to actual operating systems lacks a strong validation. In this work we present Castadiva, a test-bed architecture that allows validating software solutions for real ad hoc network environments using low-cost, off-the-shelf devices and open source software. Castadiva is also compatible with the ns-2 simulator, allowing a combined and more complete evaluation. In this work we present our tool and the results obtained when evaluating videocalls in different scenarios, both static and dynamic