2 research outputs found
Stay Connected, Leave no Trace: Enhancing Security and Privacy in WiFi via Obfuscating Radiometric Fingerprints
The intrinsic hardware imperfection of WiFi chipsets manifests itself in the
transmitted signal, leading to a unique radiometric fingerprint. This
fingerprint can be used as an additional means of authentication to enhance
security. In fact, recent works propose practical fingerprinting solutions that
can be readily implemented in commercial-off-the-shelf devices. In this paper,
we prove analytically and experimentally that these solutions are highly
vulnerable to impersonation attacks. We also demonstrate that such a unique
device-based signature can be abused to violate privacy by tracking the user
device, and, as of today, users do not have any means to prevent such privacy
attacks other than turning off the device.
We propose RF-Veil, a radiometric fingerprinting solution that not only is
robust against impersonation attacks but also protects user privacy by
obfuscating the radiometric fingerprint of the transmitter for non-legitimate
receivers. Specifically, we introduce a randomized pattern of phase errors to
the transmitted signal such that only the intended receiver can extract the
original fingerprint of the transmitter. In a series of experiments and
analyses, we expose the vulnerability of adopting naive randomization to
statistical attacks and introduce countermeasures. Finally, we show the
efficacy of RF-Veil experimentally in protecting user privacy and enhancing
security. More importantly, our proposed solution allows communicating with
other devices, which do not employ RF-Veil.Comment: ACM Sigmetrics 2021 / In Proc. ACM Meas. Anal. Comput. Syst., Vol. 4,
3, Article 44 (December 2020
Yes, I Am Ready Now: Differential Effects of Paced versus Unpaced Mating on Anxiety and Central Oxytocin Release in Female Rats
Sexual activity and partner intimacy results in several positive consequences in the context of stress-coping, both in males and females, such as reduced state anxiety in male rats after successful mating. However, in female rats, mating is a rewarding experience only when the estrous female is able to control sexual interactions, i.e., under paced-mating conditions. Here, we demonstrate that sex-steroid priming required for female mating is anxiolytic; subsequent sexual activity under paced mating conditions did not disrupt this anxiolytic priming effect, whereas mating under unpaced conditions increased anxiety-related behavior. In primed females, the release of the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) within the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus was found to be elevated and to further increase during paced, but not unpaced mating. Central administration of an OT receptor antagonist partly prevented priming/mating-induced anxiolysis indicating the involvement of brain OT in the anxiolysis triggered by priming and/or sexual activity