Trust or Bust: A Survey of Threats in Decentralized Wireless Networks

The recent emergence of decentralized wireless networks empowers individual entities to own, operate, and offer subscriptionless connectivity services in exchange for monetary compensation. While traditional connectivity providers have built trust over decades through widespread adoption, established practices, and regulation, entities in a decentralized wireless network, lacking this foundation, may be incentivized to exploit the service for their own advantage. For example, a dishonest hotspot operator can intentionally violate the agreed upon connection terms in an attempt to increase their profits. In this paper, we examine and develop a taxonomy of adversarial behavior patterns in decentralized wireless networks. Our case study finds that provider-driven attacks can potentially more than triple provider earnings. We conclude the paper with a discussion on the critical need to develop novel techniques to detect and mitigate adversarial behavior in decentralized wireless networks.