Abstract
Trust based routing in a mobile ad hoc network significantly depends upon the robustness of the trust computation framework. As more and more sophistication is added to the attack model so as to evade detection, it becomes very challenging to assess the true behavior of a node to assign a trust metric so as to form a reliable route. The current research presents the design of a trust refinement filter over an uncertainty reasoning based trust management framework to counter the conflicting behavior attack which is an advanced attack model employed by the malicious packet droppers. The conflicting behavior attack induces uncertainty in the trust computation with regard to malicious packet droppers and dishonest recommenders. To ensure the accuracy of trust computation under such an attack model, a modified trust update scheme is incorporated into the baseline scheme. Specifically, the referral trust and the forwarding trust components of the nodes involved will be affected. The resiliency of the scheme to the conflicting behavior attack is proved through the accuracy of trust value thereby forming a truly trustable route. The performance evaluation using the simulation depicts commendable network performance despite intelligent attackers.