Using covert channel to resist DoS attacks in WLAN

Compared to wired line networks, wireless networks are more vulnerable to Denial of Service (DoS) attacks. This paper using IEEE 802. 11b as an example shows a new method to resist DoS attack in wireless local area network (WLAN). We design two covert channel methods in WLAN, and using these covert channels as an alternative scheme to trace the DoS attacking path. When a malicious node launch a DoS attack, the intermediate access points will embed their address information into the covert channels, and the receiver will extract the embedded address information from the WLAN covert channels. Then the attacking path from the attacker to the victim can be identified using intermediate access points 'address information, and the victim may isolate the malicious nodes after achieving this path.