{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7201835842","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648","title":"QuicReflo: Exploiting Multi-Flow Redundancy for Restoration-Free Covert Communication Over QUIC","display_name":"QuicReflo: Exploiting Multi-Flow Redundancy for Restoration-Free Covert Communication Over QUIC","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-01-01","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7201835842","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S133795288","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing","issn_l":"1545-5971","issn":["1545-5971","1941-0018","2160-9209"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"listed_in":["anvur-scientific","ccf-a","cwts-core","dongbi-a","jufo-3","norway-2","poland-140","russia-white-list-1","vabb-shw"],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320439","host_organization_name":"IEEE Computer Society","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320439","https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["IEEE Computer Society","Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing","raw_type":"journal-article"},"volume":null,"type":"article","is_traditional":true,"indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"hybrid","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648","any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5145961537","display_name":"Jianan Huang","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8216-5478","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8216-5478"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I55712492","display_name":"Zhejiang University of Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/02djqfd08","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I55712492"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Jianan Huang","raw_affiliation_strings":["Zhejiang University of Technology"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Zhejiang University of Technology","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I55712492"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5102994219","display_name":"Bo Gao","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1787-6194","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1787-6194"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4387152112","display_name":"China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team","ror":"https://ror.org/010gf3m33","country_code":"CN","type":"other","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I4387152112"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Bo Gao","raw_affiliation_strings":["China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, Shijingshan"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, Shijingshan","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4387152112"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100359503","display_name":"Weiwei Liu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7353-9136","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7353-9136"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I36399199","display_name":"Nanjing University of Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/00xp9wg62","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I36399199"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Weiwei Liu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Nanjing University of Science and Technology"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Nanjing University of Science and Technology","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36399199"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5100311108","display_name":"Xiongfei Zeng","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0360-7505","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0360-7505"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I55712492","display_name":"Zhejiang University of Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/02djqfd08","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I55712492"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Xiongfei Zeng","raw_affiliation_strings":["Zhejiang University of Technology"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Zhejiang University of Technology","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I55712492"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5093837330","display_name":"Fengyuan Nie","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8085-7011","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8085-7011"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I36399199","display_name":"Nanjing University of Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/00xp9wg62","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I36399199"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Fengyuan Nie","raw_affiliation_strings":["Nanjing University of Science and Technology"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Nanjing University of Science and Technology","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36399199"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5145986941","display_name":"Caiyun Liu","orcid":null,"observed_orcids":[]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4387152112","display_name":"China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team","ror":"https://ror.org/010gf3m33","country_code":"CN","type":"other","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I4387152112"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Caiyun Liu","raw_affiliation_strings":["China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, Shijingshan"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"China Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, Shijingshan","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4387152112"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5062243742","display_name":"Guangjie Liu","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4729-7406","observed_orcids":["https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4729-7406"]},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I200845125","display_name":"Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology","ror":"https://ror.org/02y0rxk19","country_code":"CN","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}],"countries":["CN"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Guangjie Liu","raw_affiliation_strings":["Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I200845125"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":1,"institutions_distinct_count":4,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":{"value":2645,"currency":"USD","value_usd":2645},"apc_paid":{"value":2645,"currency":"USD","value_usd":2645},"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.0,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":"1","last_page":"15"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11598","display_name":"Internet Traffic Analysis and Secure E-voting","score":0.9937000274658203,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11598","display_name":"Internet Traffic Analysis and Secure E-voting","score":0.9937000274658203,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10138","display_name":"Network Traffic and Congestion Control","score":0.0007999999797903001,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10388","display_name":"Advanced Steganography and Watermarking Techniques","score":0.000699999975040555,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1707","display_name":"Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/covert-communication","display_name":"covert communication","score":0.9810000061988831},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/quic","display_name":"QUIC","score":0.9819999933242798},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/http-3","display_name":"HTTP/3","score":0.9539999961853027},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/covert-channels","display_name":"covert channels","score":0.7699999809265137},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/correlation-attacks","display_name":"correlation attacks","score":0.6549999713897705},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/covert-throughput","display_name":"covert throughput","score":0.6010000109672546}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.85589998960495},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C152124472","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1204361","display_name":"Redundancy (engineering)","level":2,"score":0.6488999724388123},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C31258907","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1301371","display_name":"Computer network","level":1,"score":0.612500011920929},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C93996380","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q44127","display_name":"Server","level":2,"score":0.44679999351501465},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779338814","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5179285","display_name":"Covert","level":2,"score":0.3393999934196472},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C178489894","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8789","display_name":"Cryptography","level":2,"score":0.29170000553131104},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C38652104","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3510521","display_name":"Computer security","level":1,"score":0.2851000130176544},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C35525427","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q745881","display_name":"Intrusion detection system","level":2,"score":0.2773999869823456},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C3020028006","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9158","display_name":"Electronic mail","level":2,"score":0.25619998574256897},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C157764524","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1383412","display_name":"Throughput","level":3,"score":0.24740000069141388}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S133795288","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing","issn_l":"1545-5971","issn":["1545-5971","1941-0018","2160-9209"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"listed_in":["anvur-scientific","ccf-a","cwts-core","dongbi-a","jufo-3","norway-2","poland-140","russia-white-list-1","vabb-shw"],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320439","host_organization_name":"IEEE Computer Society","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320439","https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["IEEE Computer Society","Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1109/tdsc.2026.3721648","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S133795288","display_name":"IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing","issn_l":"1545-5971","issn":["1545-5971","1941-0018","2160-9209"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"listed_in":["anvur-scientific","ccf-a","cwts-core","dongbi-a","jufo-3","norway-2","poland-140","russia-white-list-1","vabb-shw"],"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310320439","host_organization_name":"IEEE Computer Society","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310320439","https://openalex.org/P4310319808"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["IEEE Computer Society","Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"study_designs":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W7171711530","https://openalex.org/W4416958351","https://openalex.org/W7214078354","https://openalex.org/W6907594278","https://openalex.org/W7134957916","https://openalex.org/W7168429472","https://openalex.org/W3165256804","https://openalex.org/W7083832587","https://openalex.org/W3105084895","https://openalex.org/W3101471614"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"The":[0,128],"rapid":[1],"proliferation":[2],"of":[3,11,164,200,211],"HTTP/3":[4,176],"has":[5],"consolidated":[6],"QUIC":[7,30,63,96,165,185],"as":[8,216,218],"the":[9,41,55,105,161,208],"backbone":[10],"modern":[12,239],"web":[13,240],"traffic,":[14,177],"providing":[15],"a":[16,87,131,229],"ubiquitous":[17],"and":[18,36,53,150,223,234],"statistically":[19,112],"diverse":[20,184],"carrier":[21],"for":[22,78,232],"covert":[23,26,79,89,198,236],"communication.":[24,127],"Existing":[25],"channels":[27],"built":[28],"on":[29,38,174],"traffic":[31,51,124],"predominantly":[32],"manipulate":[33],"packet-level":[34],"patterns":[35],"depend":[37],"restoration":[39,222],"at":[40],"receiver":[42],"to":[43,57,116,215],"reconcile":[44],"flow":[45],"inconsistencies.":[46],"Such":[47],"restoration,":[48],"however,":[49],"introduces":[50],"inconsistencies":[52],"exposes":[54],"channel":[56],"straightforward":[58],"correlation":[59],"attacks.":[60],"Meanwhile,":[61],"contemporary":[62],"browsing":[64],"typically":[65],"involves":[66],"multiple":[67,95],"concurrent":[68],"flows,":[69],"whose":[70],"complex":[71],"spatio-temporal":[72],"dynamics":[73],"remain":[74],"an":[75,143,196],"underexplored":[76],"opportunity":[77],"embedding.":[80],"In":[81],"this":[82],"study,":[83],"we":[84],"propose":[85],"QuicReflo,":[86],"restoration-free":[88],"communication":[90,237],"framework":[91,129],"that":[92,136,146,159,188],"operates":[93],"across":[94,183],"flows.":[97],"QuicReflo":[98,189,227],"strategically":[99],"schedules":[100],"packet":[101,204],"insertions":[102],"guided":[103],"by":[104],"backbone-and-adaptation":[106],"redundancy":[107,138],"modeling":[108],"process,":[109],"which":[110],"predefines":[111],"admissible":[113],"embedding":[114,144,157],"regions":[115],"support":[117],"lossless":[118],"payload":[119],"extraction":[120],"without":[121],"compromising":[122],"observed":[123],"or":[125],"legitimate":[126],"integrates":[130],"redundancy-aware":[132],"hierarchical":[133],"diffusion":[134],"model":[135],"precomputes":[137],"space":[139],"vectors,":[140],"together":[141],"with":[142],"strategy":[145],"balances":[147],"capacity,":[148],"latency,":[149],"statistical":[151],"fidelity.":[152],"This":[153],"joint":[154],"design":[155],"delineates":[156],"spaces":[158],"preserve":[160],"distributional":[162],"integrity":[163],"flows":[166],"while":[167,205],"avoiding":[168],"costly":[169],"online":[170],"alignment.":[171],"Extensive":[172],"experiments":[173],"real-world":[175],"collected":[178],"from":[179],"over":[180,238],"100,000":[181],"sessions":[182],"websites,":[186],"demonstrate":[187],"outperforms":[190],"three":[191],"state-of-the-art":[192],"baselines.":[193],"It":[194],"achieves":[195],"average":[197],"throughput":[199],"28":[201],"bytes":[202],"per":[203],"substantially":[206],"constraining":[207],"detection":[209],"accuracy":[210],"fourteen":[212],"advanced":[213],"classifiers":[214],"low":[217],"60.2%.":[219],"By":[220],"eliminating":[221],"exploiting":[224],"multi-flow":[225],"redundancy,":[226],"establishes":[228],"new":[230],"direction":[231],"resilient":[233],"high-capacity":[235],"protocols.":[241]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-11-08T12:12:28.789561","created_date":"2026-08-08T00:00:00"}
