Providing availability in the lower layers of a wireless network: philosophies and case studies

Availability, together with confidentiality and integrity, form the basic concepts of information security. Indeed, a device, protocol, or network can enjoy the highest level of confidentiality and integrity, but still be of very little value to its clients if it is not available. In this dissertation, I consider the availability of wireless networks, which have permeated into almost every aspect of our daily life, from entertainment such as online games to utility infrastructure such as smart grids. A faulty entity can disrupt the connectivity offered by the lower layers of a wireless network and interrupt the provided services; thus, network availability in the lower layers is essential both to prevent inconveniences and to reliably provide critical services. This dissertation considers three major philosophies that aim to provide availability by defending against denial-of-service (DoS) attacks at the lower layers. Specifically, a network can 1. detect misbehaviors to eliminate DoS attacks; 2. enforce fairness to mitigate DoS attacks; or 3. adopt randomization to escape DoS attacks. For each philosophy, this dissertation presents a case study. I present a location verification protocol at the physical (PHY) layer that detects misbehavior in order to provide reliable position-based services. I also present a transport layer protocol that mitigates the flooding attack by enforcing Transport Control Protocal (TCP) fairness. I then present a flooding protocol that uses randomness at the PHY layer to escape from the jamming attack.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Electrical and Computer Engr

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2012

Author dc:creator

• Chiang, Jerry T.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hu, Yih-Chun
• Kumar, P.R.
• Vaidya, Nitin H.
• Borisov, Nikita

• availability
• lower layers
• wireless networks

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2011 Jerry Chiang

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/29432

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/29432