E2SIW: An Energy Efficient Scheme Immune to Wormhole Attacks in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Wormhole attacks are considered as a severe security threat in multi-hop wireless ad hoc networks. In this paper, we propose an Energy-Efficient Scheme Immune to Wormhole attacks (our so-called E2SIW). This protocol uses the location information of nodes to detect the presence of a wormhole, and in case a wormhole exists in the path, it finds alternate routes involving the nodes of the selected path so as to obtain a secure route to the destination. The protocol is capable of detecting wormhole attacks employing either hidden or participating malicious nodes. Simulations are conducted, showing that E2SIW can detect wormholes with a high detection rate, less overhead, and can consume less energy in less time, compared to the De Worm wormhole detection protocol, chosen as benchmark.