Public-key cryptography

Computer science

Network packet

Key distribution

Engineering

Mobile ad hoc network

Distributed computing

Key management

Routing (electronic design automation)

Structural engineering

Computer security

Node (physics)

Encryption

Key generation

Routing protocol

Computer network

Applied Sciences

A Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) is an autonomous network developed using wireless mobile nodes without the support of any kind of infrastructure. In a MANET, nodes can communicate with each other freely and dynamically. However, MANETs are prone to serious security threats that are difficult to resist using the existing security approaches. Therefore, various secure routing protocols have been developed to strengthen the security of MANETs. In this paper, a secure and energy-efficient routing protocol is proposed by using group key management. Asymmetric key cryptography is used, which involves two specialized nodes, labeled the Calculator Key (CK) and the Distribution Key (DK). These two nodes are responsible for the generation, verification, and distribution of secret keys. As a result, other nodes need not perform any kind of additional computation for building the secret keys. These nodes are selected using the energy consumption and trust values of nodes. In most of the existing routing protocols, each n...

Data Security-Based Routing in MANETs Using Key Management Mechanism