Project Grant 2404741

The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $600,000 Project Grant under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CFDA 47.070) program to the University of South Florida (USF) to investigate the security vulnerabilities of Wi-Fi localization systems and develop defense methods to safeguard their trustworthiness. The 3-year project, which began on July 1, 2024, aims to determine whether spoofing attacks can effectively disrupt Wi-Fi localization in dense urban areas and to create innovative techniques to detect and mitigate such attacks. Key deliverables include a comprehensive analysis of the factors impacting Wi-Fi spoofing attacks, a vulnerability study on geolocation APIs, and new defense methods to enable the detection of these attacks. By addressing these critical research questions, the project seeks to provide fundamental insights to secure Wi-Fi-enabled mobile applications and protect users from receiving fake location information.