Investigation of signal and message manipulations on the wireless channel

Abstract

We explore the suitability of Dolev-Yao-based attacker models for the security analysis of wireless communication. The Dolev-Yao model is commonly used for wireline and wireless networks. It is defined on abstract messages exchanged between entities and includes arbitrary, real-time modification of messages by the attacker. In this work, we aim at understanding and evaluating the conditions under which these real-time, covert low-energy signal modifications can be successful. In particular, we focus on the following signal and message manipulation techniques: symbol flipping and signal annihilation. We analyze these techniques theoretically, by simulations, and experiments and show their feasibility for particular wireless channels and scenarios. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.