Abstract
Wi-Fi technology connects sensor-based things that operate with small batteries, and allows them to access the Internet from anywhere at any time and perform networking. It has become a critical element in many areas of daily life and industry, including smart homes, smart factories, smart grids, and smart cities. The Wi-Fi-based Internet of things is gradually expanding its range of uses from new industries to areas that are intimately connected to people’s lives, safety, and property. Wi-Fi technology has undergone a 20-year standardization process and continues to evolve to improve transmission speeds and service quality. Simultaneously, it has also been strengthening power-saving technology and security technology to improve energy efficiency and security while maintaining backward compatibility with past standards. This study analyzed the security vulnerabilities of the Wi-Fi power-saving mechanism used in smart devices and experimentally proved the feasibility of a battery draining attack (BDA) on commercial smartphones. The results of the experiment showed that when a battery draining attack was performed on power-saving Wi-Fi, 14 times the amount of energy was consumed compared with when a battery draining attack was not performed. This study analyzed the security vulnerabilities of the power-saving mechanism and discusses countermeasures.
Highlights
Internet of things (IoT) connectivity technologies have become essential in all areas of daily life, public infrastructure, industry, and business
To extend the battery lifetimes of Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi)-based IoT and ensure security in terms of the availability of services related to human life, safety, and property, there is an urgent need for countermeasures based on analyses of security vulnerabilities to battery draining attacks
This study experimentally proves that even a wireless device that uses the latest Wi-Fi standard is vulnerable to battery draining attacks owing to this reason
Summary
Internet of things (IoT) connectivity technologies have become essential in all areas of daily life, public infrastructure, industry, and business. Wi-Fi has lasted for two decades, and its areas of use have expanded dramatically compared with those in the past, which has added to the severity of the problem This is because Wi-Fi provides backward compatibility, indicating that the security vulnerabilities of the power-saving mechanism of the early period are still present in the later Wi-Fi standards. Based on the technological background, this study analyzed the security vulnerabilities of the power-saving mechanism and experimentally proved that malicious attackers can exploit these vulnerabilities by continuously transmitting wake-up trigger frames during a doze mode to cause power consumption, and they can increase the efficiency of the battery draining attack by training the trigger frames. It analyzes the security vulnerabilities of the Wi-Fi power-saving mechanism based on experimental results in the real world and proposes countermeasures It discusses the security remedies and presents a feasible defense technique against the battery draining attack.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
