QADE: Quantification, Analysis, Defense and Evaluation System for Resilient and Secure Wireless Communication Operations

Wireless communication systems are critical components of Department of Defense (DoD) information operations, such as tactical mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) and control of unmanned vehicles. These systems must offer trusted and reliable mission-oriented information exchange over the air in contested, congested, and adversary battlefield scenarios. The broadcast nature of the wireless communication channel can inevitably expose wireless signals that contain critical information to a wide range of malicious attackers, which may attempt to disrupt or intercept or spoof the information. Recent emergence of stealth (silent or low-signal) attacks such as emulating legitimate behaviors, or randomizing their footprints are difficult (even if possible) to detect by the conventional intrusion detection systems. However, there is no systematic framework yet to model, analyze, quantify, and evaluate these attacks. To address this critical need, we propose to design the Quantification, Analysis, Defense and Evaluation (QADE) system for secure and resilient wireless communication operations. The key innovation is to jointly integrate comprehensive mathematical attack modeling, impact and resiliency quantification, and high-fidelity radio experimental evaluation to develop an efficient system for combating wireless stealthy attacks.