Security of Wireless Communications against Eaves-dropping and Attacks by Using Shannon’s Theory

Abstract

This research applies Shannon’s information theory on improving the security of the wireless communication from eavesdropping and attacks. Most wireless networks are prone to security threats because of their nature of operation as compared to the wired network which makes it important to establish secure means of transmitting data. Another measure that gives a quantitative estimate to the problem of obtaining the maximum reliable rate of information transfer is Shannon’s information theory. This paper discusses
techniques like physical layer security that takes advantage of the characteristics of the channel to minimize the quantity of data that can be overheard by an attacker. Hence, we seek to find the channel condition and employ artificial noise generation, cooperative jamming and secure beamforming to reduce the capacity of the eavesdropper channel while boosting the legitimate user’s date rate. Furthermore, we analyze non-symmetric pre-shared key security solutions that do not incorporate classical cryptographic keys ensuring higher levels of security against computational threats. Analyzing the results theoretically and by simulation, this study demonstrates that applying the principles which were derived from Shannon’s theory can enhance security in wireless networks particularly when facing adaptive adversaries. The findings reported in this paper help in designing more secure wireless protocols, which are vital in the future M2M and IoT systems.