Security threats in military cognitive radio networks

The emergence of new wireless services and the growing demand for wireless communications are creating a spectrum shortage problem. Moreover, the current technique of static frequency allocation leads to inefficiency utilization of the available spectrum. Cognitive radio (CR) and dynamic spectrum management (DSM) concepts, aim to solve this imbalance between scarcity and under utilization of the spectrum by dynamically using the free frequency bands. However, this technology introduces new vulnerabilities and opportunities for malicious users compared to traditional wireless networks due to its intrinsic characteristics. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of common CR attacks and their potential countermeasures with projection on military radio networks. We classify the attacks based on the four main functions of the cognitive radio, not according to the layers of the OSI model as usually done. Through this classification, we tried to provide directions for related researches to discern which cognitive functionality has to be insured against each threat.