Trusting the Trust-Model in mobile wireless ad-hoc network settings

Nowadays, the world gets more and more mobile in such a way that communication services are desirable anytime and anywhere. In this context, Mobile wireless ad-hoc networks, including mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) and Mesh-Networks, are systems of nodes that interconnect in a dynamical self-organized way providing an attraction especially during mission-crucial or time-crucial applications, for example during a disaster recovery scenario, allowing to extend common Wireless LAN technologies over wide areas. However, the nature of mobile wireless networks makes them very vulnerable to malicious attacks and selfish actions. Principally, due to the absence of preestablished communication infrastructure, security in mobile ad-hoc wireless networks is assumed trickier than in conventional and hierarchical network systems. Unfortunately, traditional and approved security mechanisms are not applicable in such almost anarchistic network structures. Thus, the establishment of Trust is virtually ubiquitous and could lead to a milestone regarding security in mobile wireless ad-hoc networks. In this paper, we compare Trust evaluation, Trust evidence and Trust evidence distribution approaches concerning their applicability to mobile wireless network settings with the aim to figure out which model is truly trustworthy. Key-Words: Mobile wireless ad-hoc networks, Trust, Security, Attacks, MANET, Mesh-Networks