PCPD: A novel illustration of pivotal parameters of an attack for security systems: Case study on IEEE 802.11 MAC layer misbehavior

To confront an attack, a good strategy may save the cost and time. When Detecting and reacting is known to handle predictable naïve attacks, prevention strategies should be used to deal with smart unknown ones. These are defined types of misbehavior in wireless MAC layer protocols. To study MAC layer misbehavior in IEEE 802.11 networks more systematically, we defined a framework named PCPD. This methodology introduces four parameters, Possibility, Cost, Profit, and Damage to delineate any assumed attack or threat. By studying these parameters together, it becomes clear what are the most probable and considerable misbehaviors, how much damage they can make, what are profits and cost of such a behavior for the hostile host, and so how much essential is to tackle it. Comparison of PCPD parameters for different types of misbehavior results in a comprehensible identification of their severity, network´s reliability, and network´s weak points. By recognizing these parameters one can easily go through designing an accurate handling method for any threat.