Security in wireless ad-hoc networks – A survey

Pervasive mobile and low-end wireless technologies, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID), wireless sensor networks and the impending vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs), make the wireless scenario exciting and in full transformation. For all the above (and similar) technologies to fully unleash their potential in the industry and society, there are two pillars that cannot be overlooked: security and privacy. Both properties are especially relevant if we focus on ad-hoc wireless networks, where devices are required to cooperate – e.g. from routing to the application layer – to attain their goals.In this paper, we survey emerging and established wireless ad-hoc technologies and we highlight their security/privacy features and deficiencies. We also identify open research issues and technology challenges for each surveyed technology.