Detection of power-drain denial-of-service attacks in wireless networks

Abstract

In a wireless network, an architecture for wireless attack resistance (AWARE) detects power-drain denial-of-service (DoS) attacks by generating statistical measures relating the power consumption by a mobile unit and data transmitted to and from the mobile unit during normal operations of the wireless network. The AWARE architecture compares those statistical measures to current measures to detect a DoS attack if the current measure differs from the statistical measure by more than a specified threshold. If a DoS attack is detected, then the AWARE architecture can inhibit communications with the mobile unit to prevent the mobile from consuming too much power. The statistical measure may be an energy efficiency ratio relating the number of bits of data transmitted to or from the mobile unit over a specified time interval to the amount of power consumed by the mobile unit during that time interval.