Survey of Security Issues in Cognitive Radio Networks

Abstract

Cognitive Radio (CR) is a novel technology that promises to solve the spectrum shortage problem by allowing secondary users to coexist with primary users without causing interference to their communication. Although the operational aspects of CR are being explored vigorously, its security aspects have gained little attention. In this paper, a brief overview of the CR technology is provided followed by a detailed analysis of the security attacks targeting Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs) along with the corresponding mitigation techniques. We categorize the attacks with respect to the layer they target starting from the physical layer and moving up to the transport layer. An evaluation of the suggested countermeasures is presented along with other solutions and augmentations to achieve a secure and trusted CRN.