Robustness of Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT): A Directed Network Perspective

Abstract

Through the combination of various intelligent devices and the Internet to form a large-scale network, the Internet of Things (IoT) realizes real-time information exchange and communication between devices. IoT technology is expected to play an essential role in improving the combat effectiveness and situation awareness ability of armies. The interconnection between combat equipment and other battlefield resources is referred to as the Internet of Battlefield Things (IoBT). Battlefield real-time data sharing and the cooperative decision-making among commanders are highly dependent on the connectivity between different combat units in the network. However, due to the wireless characteristics of communication, a large number of communication links are directly exposed in the complex battlefield environment, and various cyber or physical attacks threaten network connectivity. Therefore, the ability to maintain network connectivity under adversary attacks is a critical property for the IoBT. In this work, we propose a directed network model and connectivity measurement of the IoBT network. Then, we develop an optimal attack strategy optimization model to simulate the optimal attack behavior of the enemy. By comparing with the disintegration effect of some benchmark strategies, we verify the optimality of the model solution and find that the robustness of the IoBT network decreases rapidly with an increase of the unidirectional communication links in the network. The results show that the adversary will change the attack mode according to the parameter settings of attack resources and network communication link density. In order to enhance the network robustness, we need to adjust the defense strategy in time to deal with this change. Finally, we validated the model and theoretical analysis proposed in this paper through experiments on a real military network.