Who is listening? Security in wireless networks

Abstract

Wireless networks have significantly impacted the world as far back as World War II. Through the use of wireless networks, information could be sent overseas or behind enemy lines easily and quickly. Since then wireless networks have continued to develop and its uses have significantly grown. This rapid proliferation of wireless networks has been closely accompanied by an increasing number of security threats. This paper describes an overview of security issues in wireless networks. Security issues in wireless networks span multiple layers including physical layer, network layer and application layer and encompass cross-layer attacks based on identity management and side channels. This paper discusses some prominent security issues in the context of wireless networks and presents qualitative arguments that demonstrate the infeasibility of building unbreakable security mechanisms under a bounded resource model. Hence, it is becomes crucial to identify trade-offs between attack and defense strategies and their cost structures (such as performance overhead). The paper concludes with a discussion on an emerging paradigm for achieving a quantifiable level of security using a risk analysis approach that captures the notion of risk and pricing.