On Adversarial Games in Dynamic Spectrum Access Networking based Covert Timing Channels?

Abstract

In this paper, we study tactical covert timing networks with dynamic spectrum access capability amidst adversaries. We present a two-tier game framework to model the attackdefense scenario. There are very few studies available in the literature on covert timing channels with multiple parallel transmissions. This paper presents a new paradigm combining the time diversity provided by covert timing channels and frequency diversity provided by dynamic spectrum switching, to combat jamming. The dynamic sensing of different spectrum bands and subsequent jamming by the attacker, and the camouflaging defense by the covert network are modeled as a two-tier game. We present a dynamic minimax camouflaging strategy for the covert network and sensing and jamming strategies for the attacker. We compare the performance of our proposed equilibrium strategies with that of other well known strategies and demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed solution. We use theoretical analysis, simulations and testbed experiments to illustrate our ideas.