Comparison Analysis of AODV and DSR Under Attack by Black Hole Nodes in a NS3 Simulation.

Data security threats have been introduced in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks due to the mobility and portability of the wireless communication devices. These threats are due to the utilisation of multiple hops as a result of limited transmission ranges between the source and destination nodes. This study aims to prove the impact black hole attacks can have on Mobile Ad Hoc Networks. More specifically, how attacks impact two different reactive protocols. The protocols to compare are AODV and DSR. The simulation criteria used have network conditions favourable to reactive protocols, to function optimally. That is, the conditions should not affect normal protocol operation. Optimal conditions include densely distributed nodes that do not move sporadically. This study includes simulation results of AODV and DSR while under attack. The simulation is conducted using ns-3 and NetAnim. The simulation involves the use of a base implementation of AODV and DSR from ns-3 as a benchmark for the effects that black hole nodes introduce into a network. Similarly, the AODV and DSR implementation that have black hole nodes present in the network is also included, to measure the effects black hole nodes introduce. These protocols then have their performance compared while under attack, keeping the environment the same. From the results, we can see that DSR outperforms AODV while having black hole nodes in the node population under various configurations. DSR's dominance is because DSR can keep several routes and decide on those routes, while AODV gives more responsibility to the network for the best route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]