How to Start Hello Flood Attack Projects Using NS3

To start Hello Flood Attack in NS3 which is a kind of network attack in which malicious nodes propagate a large number of Hello packets that is commonly used for neighbor discovery in a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) consuming the network resources or mislead nodes to supposing an attacker is a legitimate neighbor.

In NS3, we can be replicated a Hello Flood Attack within a WSN by means of executing malicious nodes to propagate excessive Hello packets whereas legitimate nodes try typical interaction.

Below is a stepwise method to replicate a Hello Flood Attack in NS3:

Steps to Start Hello Flood Attack Projects in NS3

1. Set Up NS3

• Start by install and build NS3:

./waf configure

./waf build

• Verify the installation:

./waf –run hello-simulator

2. Understand the Hello Flood Attack

• Attack Overview:
  • Legitimate nodes utilize Hello packets broadcasting its existence.
  • The attacker transmits a flood of Hello packets including high signal strength or faked identities to trigger the nodes to:
    • Exhaust energy resources by processing the needless packets.
    • To misroute traffic to the attacker.
• Target: These attacks aims wireless Sensor Networks or IoT-based networks.

3. Define the WSN Topology

• We can make a WSN to include:
  • Normal Nodes: Sensor nodes to interact with each other.
  • Sink Node: Base station gathering information from sensor nodes.
  • Attacker Node: It transmits a large number of Hello packets.
• Example Topology:

NodeContainer sensorNodes, sinkNode, attackerNode;

sensorNodes.Create(5);    // 5 Sensor nodes

sinkNode.Create(1);       // Sink node

attackerNode.Create(1);   // Attacker node

// Wireless channel and PHY configuration

YansWifiChannelHelper channel = YansWifiChannelHelper::Default();

YansWifiPhyHelper phy = YansWifiPhyHelper::Default();

phy.SetChannel(channel.Create());

// Configure MAC and Wifi settings

WifiHelper wifi;

wifi.SetStandard(WIFI_PHY_STANDARD_80211b);

WifiMacHelper mac;

Ssid ssid = Ssid(“ns3-hello-flood”);

mac.SetType(“ns3::AdhocWifiMac”, “Ssid”, SsidValue(ssid));

// Install devices on nodes

NetDeviceContainer sensorDevices = wifi.Install(phy, mac, sensorNodes);

NetDeviceContainer sinkDevice = wifi.Install(phy, mac, sinkNode);

NetDeviceContainer attackerDevice = wifi.Install(phy, mac, attackerNode);

// Install Internet stack

InternetStackHelper stack;

stack.Install(sensorNodes);

stack.Install(sinkNode);

stack.Install(attackerNode);

// Assign IP addresses

Ipv4AddressHelper address;

address.SetBase(“10.1.1.0”, “255.255.255.0”);

address.Assign(sensorDevices);

address.Assign(sinkDevice);

address.Assign(attackerDevice);

4. Simulate Normal Communication

• We need to insert legitimate interaction among the sensor nodes and the sink node.
• Example: UDP Echo Communication

UdpEchoServerHelper echoServer(9);

ApplicationContainer serverApp = echoServer.Install(sinkNode.Get(0));

serverApp.Start(Seconds(1.0));

serverApp.Stop(Seconds(10.0));

UdpEchoClientHelper echoClient(Ipv4Address(“10.1.1.1”), 9);

echoClient.SetAttribute(“MaxPackets”, UintegerValue(100));

echoClient.SetAttribute(“Interval”, TimeValue(Seconds(1.0)));

echoClient.SetAttribute(“PacketSize”, UintegerValue(512));

ApplicationContainer clientApps = echoClient.Install(sensorNodes);

clientApps.Start(Seconds(2.0));

clientApps.Stop(Seconds(10.0));

5. Implement the Hello Flood Attack

• The attacker node transmits excessive Hello packets to the network.
• Broadcast Hello Packets:

void HelloFloodAttack(Ptr<Node> attackerNode, uint32_t numPackets, Time interval) {

Ptr<Socket> socket = Socket::CreateSocket(attackerNode, TypeId::LookupByName(“ns3::UdpSocketFactory”));

InetSocketAddress broadcastAddress = InetSocketAddress(Ipv4Address(“255.255.255.255”), 80);

socket->SetAllowBroadcast(true);

socket->Connect(broadcastAddress);

for (uint32_t i = 0; i < numPackets; ++i) {

Simulator::Schedule(interval * i, [=]() {

Ptr<Packet> helloPacket = Create<Packet>(1024);  // Example Hello packet

socket->Send(helloPacket);

NS_LOG_UNCOND(“Hello packet sent at ” << Simulator::Now());

});

}

}

Simulator::Schedule(Seconds(3.0), &HelloFloodAttack, attackerNode.Get(0), 1000, MilliSeconds(10));

6. Enable Packet Tracing

• Seize packets using PCAP tracing for analysis.

phy.EnablePcap(“hello-flood-attack”, attackerDevice);

phy.EnablePcap(“hello-flood-legitimate”, sensorDevices);

7. Run the Simulation

• We want to compile and run the simulation:

./waf –run hello-flood-attack

• Then, we examine the .pcap files that are generated.

8. Analyze the Impact of the Attack

• Expected Effects:
  • Sensor nodes handle the excessive Hello packets to consume resources.
  • Nodes may incorrectly have faith in the attacker that is a legitimate neighbor.
• Wireshark Analysis:
  • Examine the broadcast packets to utilize filters:
    • ip.src == <attacker IP>: From the attacker, we can strain packets.
    • broadcast: Examine broadcast traffic.

9. Implement Detection and Mitigation

• Detection:
  • Observe the Hello packet rates and then identify anomalies.
  • Example: Count Hello packets.

void MonitorHelloPackets(Ptr<const Packet> packet) {

NS_LOG_UNCOND(“Hello packet received at ” << Simulator::Now());

}

sensorDevices.Get(0)->TraceConnectWithoutContext(“PhyRxEnd”, MakeCallback(&MonitorHelloPackets));

• Mitigation:
  • Restrict the percentage of Hello packets.
  • Confirm the sender to utilize authentication.

10. Evaluate Metrics

• Estimate the effect of attack:
  • Energy Consumption: We estimate the maximized by reason of processing unnecessary packets.
  • Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR): It can be minimized because of congested network.
  • Latency: It can increase by reason of excessive traffic.
• Examine the network performance to utilize FlowMonitor:

FlowMonitorHelper flowmon;

Ptr<FlowMonitor> monitor = flowmon.InstallAll();

11. Extend the Simulation

• Test with various attack intensities like packet rates and sizes.
• We equate the performance with and without mitigation methods.

We had delivered in-depth method for replicating and examining the Hello Flood Attacks using NS3 environment. If you want further guidance please feel free to ask!

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