FSM Resentment Using MAC Cross Layer Attacks

Abstract

Abstract— Attacks that cause a denial of service (DoS) are difficult to avoid and defend against. The focus of this study is on DoS attacks in wireless ad hoc networks that propagate from the MAC to the routing layer, causing essential routes to be broken. We show numerous traffic patterns that a clever attacker might create to cause a Denial of Service attack in one or more ad hoc network nodes. We concentrate on the features of the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol and attack propagation to the routing layer in particular. We're particularly interested in attacks that leverage low-rate traffic patterns to disable one or more specific nodes or partition the network. We propose an attack detection system based on Extended Finite State Machines (EFSM) modelling of MAC protocols and present a broad design for an Intrusion Detection System that can generate attack patterns and assess the authenticity of communication patterns in the network.