Game Theoretic Strategies for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Network Host Under DDoS Attack

Game theory involves the mathematical modeling of the strategic interaction between rational entities. One such example is the interaction between a hacker and the defense mechanisms of its target. There have been different kinds of attacks on an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV or drone) Network (UAVNet) or a Flying ad hoc network (FANET) in the recent past. The rational solution to such problems is identifying the strategies that can be chosen by the attacker, and selecting a defensive response that is most apt and intelligent while considering all the choices that a target’s defensive mechanisms can make. This paper is an attempt to identify a game like situation, when a single UAV is under a DDoS attack, while a genuine UAVNet is trying to communicate with it. Two different cases of this common attack are simulated, namely, UDP flooding, and ICMP (Ping) flooding. In both cases, the intensity of these attacks is gauged with different choices made by the attacker and the target alike. Finally, the decisions that are conducive to the attacker and the victim are identified.