Securing MANET Databases Using Metadata and Context Information

Existing commercial database security products can effectively operate in a static environment; however, they cannot guarantee to provide the same level database security in highly mobile environments such as Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANET). MANET has no fixed infrastructure due to the mobility of the nodes, and it is difficult to reuse centralized security services as in wired networks. It is critical to provide distributed security services (e.g., key management, authentication, access control) for MANET databases. In this proposal, Intelligent Automation, Inc. (IAI) and its subcontractor, Professor Le Gruenwald, propose a secure MANET database system using metadata and context information for cross domain controls. First, we propose a context-based security model to model the context data and measure context based security policies. Second, we propose a metadata-based mandatory access control mechanism to achieve multiple security level across different security domains. Third, we propose a novel key establishment approach to authenticate mobile nodes using multi-path RF signal.