TEAP: trust-enhanced anonymous on-demand routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks

Security plays a major role in implementing mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) for communication in an adverse environment. This study introduces the concept of anonymity for an informant who identifies and reports anonymously the misbehaviour of the users in the network. The trust-enhanced anonymous on-demand routing protocol (TEAP) is proposed to restrain the misuse of anonymity in two methods. In the first method, a user is revealed as a misbehaving user to other users, if it does not send any cooperative message, upon receiving two warnings. In the second method, if a user attempts to send multiple claims against a particular user for the same reason it will also be termed as a misbehaving user. The TEAP protocol is designed based upon broadcast with trapdoor information is a cryptography concept which is used to detect the misbehaving users anonymously in the network. The simulation results prove the necessity of anonymity in MANET and the effectiveness of this protocol in achieving such anonymity.