ABSTRACTS
2019 National McNair Scholars Conference at UCLA
Researcher: Pereira-Castillo, R.J.
Presentation Title: Testing the Security of Network Coding
Research Focus: Information Theory
School: Cleveland State University
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Network coding is a widely studied theoretical networking scheme with the potential for improving digital communications. The scheme allows a network node to combine information from multiple edges onto a single edge. Message symbols are represented as elements in a finite field of the form 2n. In a broadcast scenario, network coding achieves information transmission rates at the network’s min-cut max-flow bound. This potential for improving network efficiency has motivated researchers to consider the practical implications of the scheme. A body of work has been presented which describes the information theoretic security afforded by network coding. Information theoretic security is a quantitative measurement of the rate at which information can be transmitted through a network while guaranteeing its confidentiality. Our work constructs a practical network coding simulation and tests its information theoretic security vis-à-vis an eavesdropping adversary. We describe an algorithm capable of breaching the security of network coding and specify the conditions under which network coding does not guarantee security.