Understanding Next-Generation Jamming Attacks

Wireless communications are subject to various types of noise and interference, and several decades of research has produced reasonably effective approaches to communicate in a variety of settings. However, most approaches that address intentional interference, or jamming, consider only simplified attack models. This project focuses on advancing the state of the art in jamming attack modeling, given recent developments in software-defined radio technology. In addition, adversaries that are aware of higher-layer network functionality can leverage any available information to improve the impact or reduce the resource requirement for attack success. For example, jammers can synchronize their attacks with MAC protocol steps, focus attacks in specific geographic locations, or target packets from specific applications. Moreover, these same offensive techniques can be used to defend against other threats.

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Acknowledgements

This research is partially supported by CyLab at Carnegie Mellon University under grant DAAD19-02-1-0389 from the Army Research Office, by the National Science Foundation under grant CNS-1149582, and by an NDSEG fellowship. The views and conclusions contained in print and online are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either express or implied, of ARO, CMU, NSF, or the U.S. Government or any of its agencies.