Evaluation of Certificate-Based Authentication in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

The certificate-based authentication is well studied in wired networks. However, adapting certificatebased authentication protocols to mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) is a nontrivial task, mainly because, in a MANET, as opposed to conventional wired networks, there typically exists no fixed infrastructure or centralized management. For example, a conventional certificate-based authentication system relies on a fixed trusted Certificate Authority (CA), which is responsible for the creation, distribution, renewing, and revocation of certificates. In a MANET, due to issues such as node mobility, limited wireless medium, and frequent link failures, it is typically not feasible to include such a fixed centralized CA in the network. Various approaches have been proposed to tackle the unique challenge of adapting certificate-based methods for distributed authentication in mobile ad hoc networks. Our contribution in this paper is threefold: we first analyze the requirements of a secure distributed authentication system for MANETs, and then survey some of the existing certificate-based authentication mechanisms, by analyzing their features, including pros and cons, in the context of distributed authentication. Finally, a series of scenario-based simulation experiments and metrics are proposed to evaluate these features.