This document proposes a trust count based validation method to lessen internal attacks in mobile ad hoc networks. The key aspects of the proposed method are:
1. The network is divided into hierarchical clusters, each with a fully trusted cluster head.
2. Each node holds a certificate from an offline certificate authority that includes the node's access policy and expiration time.
3. A trust count is periodically calculated for each node based on its access policy evaluations.
4. Cluster heads renew or reject member nodes' certificates based on their trust count values, aiming to mitigate internal attacks like node capture attacks.