“A Comprehensive Review of Black Hole Attack Detection Approaches in MANETs”
Gaurav Mehta, Ranjit Kumar Bindal · 2025
A blackhole attack in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) is a significant security threat that targets the network’s routing protocol. In this attack, a malicious node falsely advertises itself as having the most efficient route to a particular destination. As a result, nearby nodes forward their data through this compromised node. Once the traffic is redirected, the attacker can either discard the packets or misuse the intercepted information. This disrupts the network’s integrity, confidentiality, and availability. MANETs, with their dynamic topology, decentralized design, and lack of fixed infrastructure, are especially vulnerable to such threats. Detecting and preventing blackhole attacks is particularly challenging due to these characteristics. Several defense strategies have been proposed, including trust-based approaches, anomaly detection systems, and secure routing protocols.