Using Channel State Information for Tamper Detection in the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is increasingly used for critical applications and securing the IoT has become a major concern. Among other issues it is important to ensure that tampering with IoT devices is detected. Many IoT devices use WiFi for communication and Channel State Information (CSI) based tamper detection is a valid option. Each 802.11n WiFi frame contains a preamble which allows a receiver to estimate the impact of the wireless channel, the transmitter and the receiver on the signal. The estimation result - the CSI - is used by a receiver to extract the transmitted information. However, as the CSI depends on the communication environment and the transmitter hardware, it can be used as well for security purposes. If an attacker tampers with a transmitter it will have an e↵ect on the CSI measured at a receiver. Unfortunately not only tamper events lead to CSI fluctuations; movement of people in the communication environment has an impact too. We propose to analyse CSI val...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2015
• Where: ACSAC
• Authors: Ibrahim Ethem Bagci, Utz Roedig, Ivan Martinovic, Matthias Schulz, Matthias Hollick
• Keywords: ACSAC 2015, Security Privacy