CA22168 - Physical layer security for trustworthy and resilient 6G systems (6G-PHYSEC)

Other than simply inheriting vulnerabilities from the previous generations, 6G will face new threat vectors, including in the radio and massive Internet of things (IoT) domains. The COST Action 6G-PHYSEC will thus focus on creating a European network of academia and industry experts that helps the development of trustworthy and resilient 6G that can instill trust, secure communications and privacy by proposing novel physical layer security (PLS) solutions.

The premise of 6G-PHYSEC is that in 6G, intelligent and adaptive security controls are needed at all layers, with adaptation enabled by the distillation of semantics and context. The focus of this Action is on exploiting the characteristics of physical phenomena to provide security functionalities; PLS can complement upper-layer security schemes to strengthen the overall system security and enhance trust. The Action will study the characteristics of different physical environments and hardware properties to develop efficient methods to authenticate users and devices and to provide key-based or keyless confidentiality schemes. This Action will also investigate the interplay between PLS and advances in artificial intelligence, joint communication and sensing, semantic communications and context awareness.  

To enhance the trustworthiness of 6G, starting from the physical and hardware layers, 6G-PHYSEC forms a large network of internationally renowned experts in wireless communications and security, from both academia and industry. The Action has also involved researchers across the whole of Europe and has included distinguished international partners with established expertise. The Action promotes inclusiveness by welcoming the participation of young researchers and female researchers in particular.