TC:Small: Towards Trustworthy Intrusion Monitoring Using Wireless Sensor Networks

University Of Texas At Arlington, Arlington TX

Investigators

Abstract

Intrusion monitoring using networked sensors has a broad range of applications, including border security, surveillance, and monitoring of critical infrastructure such as nuclear power plants. In these hostile environments, the sensor network will itself be an attractive target that well-funded attackers will attempt to undermine. The sensor network has to be protected so that no intruders can evade monitoring, a challenging issue with many aspects not adequately addressed by existing research. This project investigates novel techniques for location privacy and jamming-resistant tracking to defeat smart and resourceful attackers in intrusion monitoring applications. Location privacy techniques hide the locations of critical infrastructure such as base stations to make it hard for an adversary to locate and attack them. Jamming-resistant tracking allows the system to detect and track intruders in the presence of jamming attacks. However, existing location privacy techniques do not work effectively against resourceful adversaries who can monitor all traffic at a large area, and existing jamming-resistant algorithms do not scale well to large networks. These problems will be addressed in this project. Through this project, we expect to uncover insights and develop algorithms that will apply to intrusion monitoring systems. By providing a layered, comprehensive defense system, the success of this project will have substantial impacts on both civilian and military operations where security is a major concern. This project will also help develop course materials on sensor network security and privacy. New course materials will enhance the information assurance curricula at UTA and other institutions.