Effective network defense strategies to maximize system survivability of wireless mesh networks under malicious and jamming attacks

Abstract

Continuity of wireless networks is a critical issue for wireless networks. Unfortunately, there is a category of attacks that seriously threatens the continuity of wireless networks: the jamming attack. The open nature of wireless mediums makes them vulnerable to any wireless capable devices. However, there have not been any studies that address the issue of how the service providers should deploy its topology or allocate its resources to minimize the impact of jamming attacks launched by malicious attackers. In this paper, a mathematical model formulating an attack-defense scenario of the problem is proposed. The results show when deploying defense resources, considering hops from the core node is more useful than link degrees. With the advantage of simulations, the concept of incomplete information can be taken into account which, while increasing the difficulty of the problem, makes the problem closer to reality.