Novel Techniques for Thwarting Communication Jamming in Wireless Networks

A major challenge in securing wireless applications and servicesis the inherent vulnerability of radio transmissions tocommunication jamming Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks. Thisvulnerability gains in significance the more one takes the ubiquityof these applications and services for granted and becomes acrucial factor in the context of safety-critical applications. Atbest, failures of safety-critical systems can result in substantialfinancial damage - at worst, in loss of life.In this thesis, we investigate the fundamental primitives thatenable jamming-resistant communication and propose novelanti-jamming techniques for scenarios where commonanti-jamming techniques cannot be applied. This includesscenarios where network dynamics or lack of trust in the devicesprohibits the pre-distribution of shared secrets (a prerequisite forcommon anti-jamming techniques), or where the use ofanti-jamming communication is precluded by the constraints ofthe employed (e.g., narrowband and single-channel) transceivers.