Tracking the Role of Adversaries in Measuring Unwanted Traffic

Measurements related to security are being carried out on many sites on the Internet at network ingress points, between specific points on the Internet, and across the wide area Internet. The goals range from identifying sources of and possibly filtering unwanted traffic, to characterizing and coming up with new mechanisms for deterring attacks. Most of the measurements do not systematically consider adversarial traffic aimed at their measurement system. We explore the role adversaries can play and present a taxonomy on the potential impact of unwanted traffic on measurement systems. Our goal is to both enhance the robustness of such systems and spur development of tools that can alter the playing field by increasing the cost to adversaries.