keywords: ad hoc networks, on-demand ad hoc source routing, secure ad hoc routing, provable security, simulation paradigm

abstract  In this article we present a new formal framework that can be used for analyzing the ecurity of on-demand source routing protocols proposed for wireless mobile ad hoc networks. Our approach is based on the simulation paradigm which is a well-known and general procedure to prove the security of cryptographic protocols. We give the formal definition of secure ad hoc routing in a precise and rigorous manner using the concept of statistical indistinguishability. We present an ad hoc source routing protocol, called endairA, and we illustrate the usage of our approach by proving that this protocol is secure in our model.