Integration of mobility and intrusion detection for wireless ad hoc networks

One of the main challenges in building intrusion detection systems (IDSs) for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) is to integrate mobility impacts and to adjust the behaviour of IDSs correspondingly. In this paper, we first introduce two different approaches, a Markov chain-based approach and a Hotelling's T ² test based approach, to construct local IDSs for MANETs. We then demonstrate that nodes' moving speed, a commonly used parameter in tuning IDS performances, is not an effective metric to tune IDS performances under different mobility models. To solve this problem, we further propose an adaptive scheme, in which suitable normal profiles and corresponding proper thresholds can be selected adaptively by each local IDS through periodically measuring its local link change rate, a proposed unified performance metric. We study the proposed adaptive mechanism at different mobility levels, using different mobility models such as random waypoint model, random drunken model, and obstacle mobility model. Simulation results show that our proposed adaptive scheme is less dependent on the underlying mobility models and can further reduce false positive ratio. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.