Petri-net-based modeling and resolving of black hole attack in WMN

As Wireless Mesh network (WMN) is self-organizing, self-adaptive, low-cost and multi-hop, it has gradually become one of the next generation wireless networks for communication. The routing security is an important aspect of WMN. Once the routing protocol is under attack, other security measures of WMN become meaningless. Hence, detecting and resolving the attack for routing protocol is significant. This paper focuses on the modeling and resolving of the black hole attack in WMN based on colored Petri net (CPN). Firstly, WMN routing protocol is modeled with a CPN. By analyzing the model, whether a black hole attack exists can be detected. Then, in the case a black hole attack exists, a strategy for avoiding the attack is presented. Comparing to other formal methods, CPN provides a graphical representation of the protocol, and there exists a large variety of simulation tools and mathematical methods for analysis. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that colored Petri net is applied to handle the security issue in Wireless Mesh Networks.