Distributed Detection in Tree Networks: Byzantines and Mitigation Techniques

• Published in: IEEE transactions on information forensics and security Vol. 10; no. 7; pp. 1499 - 1512
• Main Authors: Kailkhura, Bhavya, Brahma, Swastik, Dulek, Berkan, Han, Yunghsiang S., Varshney, Pramod K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.07.2015; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Byzantines; Closed-form solutions; data falsification; Detectors; Distributed detection; Electronic mail; error exponent; Game theory; Games; leader-follower game; Network topology; Probability distribution; R&D; reputation based mitigation scheme; Research & development; tree networks; Vectors; tree networks; Distributed detection; reputation based mitigation scheme; data falsification; error exponent; leader-follower game; Byzantines
• ISSN: 1556-6013; 1556-6021
• DOI: 10.1109/TIFS.2015.2415757

In this paper, the problem of distributed detection in tree networks in the presence of Byzantines is considered. Closed form expressions for optimal attacking strategies that minimize the miss detection error exponent at the fusion center (FC) are obtained. We also look at the problem from the network designer's (FC's) perspective. We study the problem of designing optimal distributed detection parameters in a tree network in the presence of Byzantines. Next, we model the strategic interaction between the FC and the attacker as a leader-follower (Stackelberg) game. This formulation provides a methodology for predicting attacker and defender (FC) equilibrium strategies, which can be used to implement the optimal detector. Finally, a reputation-based scheme to identify Byzantines is proposed and its performance is analytically evaluated. We also provide some numerical examples to gain insights into the solution.