A Cryptographic Approach to Secure Ad-Hoc On-Demand Distance Vector Routing in Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks

Wireless networks are widely used for their mobility and scalability, with Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) offering a key role in applications like disaster recovery and military operations. However, the dynamic topology and decentralized nature of MANETs make them vulnerable to security threats, such as the black hole attack. In this attack, malicious nodes exploit the Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) protocol by advertising false shortest paths to intercept and drop data packets, disrupting communication. This paper evaluates existing mitigation techniques and proposes a secure routing protocol based on the Diffie-Hellman key exchange algorithm. The proposed protocol achieves a higher packet delivery ratio compared to the standard AODV protocol, thereby enhancing route security by ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of routing information, effectively preventing black hole attacks and improving network reliability and performance. This method ensures that only authenticated and legitimate nodes can participate in the routing process, thus mitigating security risks like black hole attacks.