ATTENTION: ATTackEr Traceback Using MAC Layer AbNormality DetecTION

Abstract

Denial-of-Service (DoS) and Distributed DoS (DDoS) attacks can cause serious problems in wireless multi-hop networks due to limited network and host resources. Attacker traceback is a promising solution to take a proper countermeasure near the attack origins, to discourage attackers from launching attacks, and for forensics. However, attacker traceback in wireless multi-hop networks is a challenging problem due to the dynamic topology, and limited network/host resources. In this paper, we introduce the ATTENTION protocol framework, which pays special attention to MAC layer abnormal activity under attack. For energy-efficient attacker searching, we also utilize small-world model. Our simulation analysis shows 97% of success rate in DoS attacker traceback and 83% of success rate in DDoS attacker traceback.