Design and analysis of the covert channel implemented by behaviors of network users

Qian, Yuwen; Sun, Ting; Li, Jun; Cheng, Fan; Song, Huaju

doi:10.1002/sec.1503

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 26 publications

(32 reference statements)

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“…Furthermore, the CSC is vulnerable to active network intermediaries (ANIs) (e.g., protocol scrubbers [ 12 ] and traffic normalizers [ 13 ]). Although the concealment capacities of the CTC are more enhanced than those of the CSC [ 14 , 15 ], the approach is susceptible to synchronization problems, noise and malicious attacks [ 16 ] since the CTC is built on a single unidirectional link, which makes it difficult to employ link quality feedback and reception confirmation schemes [ 17 ]. Moreover, the CTC flow uses the same link as that of the overt flow in a time-sharing manner, therefore, in principle, an active monitor can always identify the differences between the two flows to detect the existence of the CTC.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ordinal synchronization mark sequence and its steganography for a multi-link network covert channel

Wang

Dong

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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A multi-link network covert channel (MLCC) such as Cloak exhibits a high capacity and robustness and can achieve lossless modulation of the protocol data units. However, the mechanism of Cloak involving an arrangement of packets over the links (APL) is limited by its passive synchronization schemes, which results in intermittent obstructions in transmitting APL packets and anomalous link switching patterns. In this work, we propose a novel ordinal synchronization mark sequence (OSMS) for a Cloak framework based MLCC to ensure that the marked APL packets are orderly distinguishable. Specifically, a unidirectional function is used to generate the OSMS randomly before realizing covert modulation. Subsequently, we formulate the generation relation of the marks according to their order and embed each mark into the APL packets by using a one-way hash function such that the mark cannot be cracked during the transmission of the APL packet. Finally, we set up a retrieval function of the finite set at the covert receiver to extract the marks and determine their orders, and the APL packets are reorganized to realize covert demodulation. The results of experiments performed on real traffic indicated that the MLCC embedded with OSMS could avoid the passive synchronization schemes and exhibited superior performance in terms of reliability, throughput, and undetectability compared with the renowned Cloak method, especially under a malicious network interference scenario. Furthermore, our approach could effectively resist the inter-link correlation test, which are highly effective in testing the Cloak framework.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ordinal synchronization mark sequence and its steganography for a multi-link network covert channel

Wang

Dong

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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“…In this case, covert communication has attracted much attention as a key technology for network security. Traditionally, covert communication systems (CCS) are designed by using network protocols, such as transmission control protocols (TCP), Internet protocol (IP), and media access control (MAC) protocols [5]. However, these communication systems cannot be used for wireless sensors in IoT systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On Joint Optimization of UAV-Assisted Covert Communication Systems with NOMA for Hydropower Internet of Things

Le,

Xu,

Wang

et al. 2023

Drones

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The intelligent terminals deployed in hydropower IoT can quickly sense the status of hydropower equipment, thus improving the efficiency of system control and operation. However, communication security between the base station and intelligent terminals challenges the IoT hydropower plant. In this paper, we propose a UAV-assisted covert communication system (CCS), where a UAV acts as the base station to provide communication service to ground terminals monitored by malicious users. To improve access effectiveness, we adopt non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) for intelligent terminals to access the hydropower IoT. Since two devices can synchronously access the communication system with the NOMA scheme, we select one terminal to receive covert messages and the other to interfere with the malicious users to detect confidential communications. To maximize the covert rate, we formulate the optimization problem that jointly optimizes the transmit power, the altitude of the UAV, and trajectory under the constraints of covertness and the finite length of the transmission message block. Additionally, we transform the optimization problem into a geometric planning one, which is solved by a developed sequential geometric planning (SGP) approximation algorithm. Simulation results show the proposed algorithm can improve the covert rate compared to the traditional methods.

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A dynamic timing-storage covert channel in vehicular ad hoc networks

2018

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Design and analysis of the covert channel implemented by behaviors of network users

Cited by 9 publications

References 26 publications

Ordinal synchronization mark sequence and its steganography for a multi-link network covert channel

Ordinal synchronization mark sequence and its steganography for a multi-link network covert channel

On Joint Optimization of UAV-Assisted Covert Communication Systems with NOMA for Hydropower Internet of Things

A dynamic timing-storage covert channel in vehicular ad hoc networks

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