Cross - layer attacks in wireless ad hoc networks 1

Denial of Service (DoS) attacks are difficult to prevent and protect against. In this paper we focus on DoS attacks in wireless ad hoc networks that propagate from MAC to routing layer, causing breaking of critical routes. We present several traffic patterns that an intelligent attacker can generate to cause Denial of Service attack in one or several nodes in ad hoc networks. More specifically, we focus on the properties of IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol and attack propagation to the routing layer. We focus on attacks that use low-rate traffic patterns with the goal of disabling one or more specific nodes or partitioning the network. We propose a scheme for attack detection based on modelling of MAC protocols using Extended Finite State Machines (EFSM) and present general outline for an Intrusion Detection System that has the ability to generate attack patterns and check the validity of communication patterns in the network.