A Survey of Network Layer attacks and Security Mechanisms and Solutions for Routing Protocols in MANET

A Mobile Ad-Hoc Network (MANET) is a collection of mobile nodes communicating in a multi hop way without any fixed infrastructure such as access points or base stations. Security has become important to mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) due mainly to their use by military forces or for emergency rescue situations. The nature and structure of MANET makes it attractive to various types of attackers. There are also attacks that target some particular routing protocols such as DSR, or AODV. Achieving secure routing protocols resistant to multiple attacks remains a challenging task. Several efforts have been made toward the design of a secure and robust routing protocol for ad hoc network. In this paper we examine and classify major routing attacks which are specified in the literature and analyze some of the state-of –the art mechanisms and proposed secure ad hoc routing protocols that satisfy specific security requirements. A Comparison between these protocols can provide the basis for future research in this rapidly evolving area.