ABCD: advanced blockchain DSR algorithm for MANET to mitigate the different security threats

(2025) 2025:8 Majumder et al. J Wireless Com Network https://doi.org/10.1186/s13638-025-02430-7 EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking Open Access RESEARCH ABCD: advanced blockchain DSR algorithm for MANET to mitigate the different security threats Sayan Majumder1* , Debika Bhattacharyya2 and Swati Chowdhuri3 *Correspondence: 1 Department of Cyber Security, The Heritage Academy, Anandapur, Kolkata, India 2 Computer Science and Engineering, Institute of Engineering and Management, Kolkata, India 3 Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Institute of Engineering and Management, Kolkata, India Abstract Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) facilitate data communication across multiple nodes and hop stations, characterized by their dynamic topology. This inherent flexibility, however, makes MANETs vulnerable to various security threats, notably blackhole and wormhole attacks, where malicious nodes can intercept and manipulate data. This study investigates the security vulnerabilities of MANETs, particularly against blackhole, Sybil, and wormhole attacks, and introduces the Advanced Blockchain Dynamic Source Routing (ABCD) algorithm to address these challenges. Motivated by the need for robust and decentralized security solutions in MANETs, the proposed algorithm integrates blockchain technology and homomorphic encryption to secure data communication without intermediate decryption. The ABCD algorithm leverages Dijkstra’s algorithm for optimal routing and employs a tamper-proof, decentralized data storage approach. Comparative analysis under attack scenarios reveals that the ABCD algorithm outperforms the standard DSR protocol across multiple quality of service metrics, demonstrating a significant improvement in MANET security over equivalent studies. The packet delivery rate is also improved from 81 to 92% using the modified ABCD algorithm. Keywords: MANET, ABCD, QoS, Blockchain, DSR, Encryption 1 Introduction Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are characterized by their self-supporting, hop-based architectures, and dynamic topology, with mobility being their primary advantage [1]. However, this inherent mobility also exposes MANETs to various security threats, particularly intruder occurrences that compromise data integrity. Among these threats, blackhole [2] and wormhole [3] attacks are especially critical, as they significantly degrade network performance by disrupting data packet routing. MANETs utilize protocols such as Ad hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) [4] and Dynamic Source Routing (DSR) [5] to facilitate efficient packet forwarding. Despite their effectiveness, these protocols require additional security measures to address advanced threats adequately. Integrating blockchain technology [6] into © The Author(s) 2025. 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To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Majumder et al. J Wireless Com Network (2025) 2025:8 MANETs offers a promising solution, as blockchain securely attaches blocks containing encrypted route information, enhancing network security [7]. 1.1 Problem statement The major problems with MANET, which we have tried to answer, are listed below: a. MANETs, being decentralized, do not have a central authority to manage security, authentication, and trust. The control or monitoring of the network is hence difficult and subject to risks of malicious nodes joining and disrupting the network. b. MANETs are highly susceptible to certain types of attacks, such as Sybil attacks (in which a node illegitimately claims multiple identities), blackhole attacks (where a node absorbs data and does not forward it), and wormhole attacks (in which two colluding nodes create a shortcut to alter routing). Such attacks may break the network’s functionality. c. Data integrity authentication can be problematic if any node can join or leave the network at will. Without some proper mechanisms, data packets may be interfered with or injected by unauthorized nodes. d. Security mechanisms like public key cryptography can be energy-intensive, which is a drawback for battery-powered mobile devices in MANETs. e. As nodes in MANETs are openly communicating, information about routes and network topologies becomes obvious; hence, this can create some breaches with privacy since attackers may deduce all sensitive information from communication patterns. 1.2 Motivations The problem was very challenging to implement the blockchain technology to store the data packet information, even after the packets are getting encrypted. The entire technique was not so easy to implement within a single algorithm. The DSR was chosen here but there is a chance of future work to implement this technique with other routing protocols. The implementation of the blockchain and the shortest route finding was a challenge within the same algorithm, which was implemented using Dijkstra’s calculation. To the knowledge of author, no previous work was proved before that found all of this technology together to give extra security to MANET. 1.3 Major contributions In this manuscript, the modified DSR algorithm is described and named the ABCD protocol. In this algorithm, to implement extra security over MANET, blockchain technology is applied even after the nodes are encrypted using homomorphic encryption. As, the blockchain uses extra time to be implemented, Dijkstra’s rule is applied to find the shortest route first between source to target node to minimize the computational time. Lastly, the blackhole, wormhole, and Sybil attacks are mitigated and their quality of services are compared using normal DSR and ABCD protocol. Page 2 of 39 Majumder et al. J Wireless Com Network (2025) 2025:8 1.4 Paper organization The paper is organized is as follows: The backdrop of our work is presented in Sect. 2, and the relevant literature work is presented in Sect. 3. In Sect. 4, we outline the method we have devised. Sections 5 and 6 introduce the algorithm’s results and implementations. The paper is finally concluded in Sectio (...truncated)