The Philadelphia Area Urban Wireless Network Testbed

Mobile Ad-hoc NETworks (MANETs) represent the integration of many subsystems. Security on a MANET is therefore multi-level, and while each subsystem may be classified as secure by some local performance index, the integrated plant does not necessarily inherit the security properties of its components. The most obvious vulnerability is “at the seams,” between subsystems. However, it is also possible that architectural weaknesses and intercommunication gaps would provide a potential attacker with opportunities that were not obvious during the design of the separate components. In general, one must assume that the integrated system is more vulnerable than each one of its components. We describe a research and development effort to secure the integration of applications in a mobile computing environment. Our system addresses the need for robust and secure information distribution solutions in infrastructure-free environments. Applications built as part of this solution may then support users in communicating and transferring information more effectively and in ways not possible with existing technologies. A variety of real-world applications exist which would greatly benefit from such distributed, mobile tools. They have the potential to improve information flow between users in environments where power, networks, and other computing resources do not exist or have been damaged. These environments include coordinated police forces at large public events, medical personnel at an accident scene, and emergency responders to a natural disaster.