@article{Gul2026, 
author = {Bakhtawar Gul and Atif Elahi and Tahir Saleem and Noor Gul and Fahad Algarni and Insaf Ullah},
title = {Mitigating Sidelobe-Driven Attacks in OFDM-Based Cognitive Radio Networks},
year = {2026},
journal = {Computers, Materials & Continua},
volume = {87},
number = {2},
pages = {86},
keywords = {Cybersecurity, cognitive radios network, generalized sidelobe canceler, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, primary user emulation attack, sidelobe suppression},
url = {https://www.sciopen.com/article/10.32604/cmc.2026.069776},
doi = {10.32604/cmc.2026.069776},
abstract = {Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) enables efficient Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) but suffers from high sidelobe that causes excessive out-of-band (OOB) emissions and expose the system to spectrum-layer cyberattacks such as man-in-the-middle (MITM), eavesdropping, and primary user emulation (PUE) attacks. To address both spectral leakage and its security implications, this paper introduces a secure and intelligent hybrid optimization strategy that combinesan Eigenspace-based Generalized Sidelobe Canceller (ES-GSC) with a Genetic Algorithm (GA), to derive optimally weighted cancellation carriers. The proposed method jointly suppresses sidelobes and reinforces resistance to leakage-based attacks. MATLAB Simulation demonstrate considerable reductions in OOB emissions and higher resilience against spectrum-layer threats compared with existing techniques.}
}