Range and Topology Mutation Based Wireless Agility

2020-11-09

MTD@CCS

AI Summary

In hostile military environments, static wireless infrastructure is vulnerable to targeted denial-of-service (DoS) and eavesdropping attacks. To address this, we propose an active defense framework grounded in wireless agility. Our core method formally models two novel stochastic mutation primitives—Random Range Mutation (RNM) and Random Topology Mutation (RTM)—and jointly optimizes coverage continuity, security isolation, and energy constraints under unknown adversary strategies. We employ a hybrid Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) and Answer Set Programming (ASP) solver to enforce dynamic client access-point (AP) handoffs while satisfying service requirements, thereby significantly enhancing resistance to device localization and targeted attacks. Experimental evaluation demonstrates the framework’s feasibility, scalability, and effectiveness in suppressing such attacks across large-scale deployments—marking a departure from conventional static defense paradigms.

Technology Category

• Multiagent Systems: Adversarial Agents
• Application Domains: Mobility, Driving & Flight
• Search and Optimization: Mixed Discrete/Continuous Search

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Energy management for devices in mobile Web and WoT environments
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs

Abstract

Wireless is a key component in most of today's network infrastructures. Yet, it is highly susceptible to network attacks because wireless communication and infrastructure, such as Access Point(AP) and clients, can be easily discovered and targeted. Particularly,the static nature of the wireless AP topology and its configuration offers a significant advantage to adversaries to identify network targets and plan devastating attacks such as denial of service or eavesdropping. This is critically important in hostile military environment in which soldiers depend on wireless infrastructure for communication and coordination. In this paper, we present formal foundations for two wireless agility techniques: (1) Random Range Mutation (RNM) that allows for periodic changes of AP coverage range randomly, and (2) Random Topology Mutation (RTM) that allows for random motion and placement of APs in the wireless infrastructure. The goal of these techniques is to proactively defend against targeted attacks (e.g.,DoS and eavesdropping) by forcing the wireless clients to change their AP association randomly. We apply Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT) and Answer Set Programming (ASP) based constraint solving methods that allow for optimizing wireless AP mutation while maintaining service requirements including coverage, security and energy properties under incomplete information about the adversary strategies. Our evaluation validates the feasibility,scalability, and effectiveness of the formal methods based technical approaches.

Problem

• Proactively defend against targeted wireless attacks
• Optimize AP mutation while maintaining service requirements
• Validate feasibility of formal methods for wireless agility

Innovation

• Random Range Mutation for AP coverage changes
• Random Topology Mutation for AP motion
• SMT and ASP for optimizing mutation constraints