SDR strategies for information warfare and assurance

As software defined radios (SDR) proliferate and the capability and functionality of radios expand, the opportunities for attack by either side increases. Modern networks are evolving into a combination of wired, wireless, and Internet components with attacks possible on any component against any other component. Understanding those attacks to identify vulnerabilities and formulate defensive approaches is the first step in a comprehensive system design. Furthermore, a complete understanding of adversarial vulnerabilities enables development of offensive strategies that leverage the power of network centric warfare (NCW). Computational capabilities of emerging SDRs provide the means to coordinate attacks against the adversary. Further, these capabilities will enable new methods for overcoming classical attacks against the terrestrial, UAV, and Satcom information systems. Part of the protection strategy for these systems will require that classical information assurance (IA) techniques be distributed to various SDR nodes within the infrastructure.