Emerging Topics in Wireless Security and Privacy towards 6G Networks

Dear Colleagues,

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has suggested that the Sixth Generation (6G) wireless networks will realize pervasive, intelligent, efficient connections among humans, machines and things, bridge the physical and virtual worlds, and integrate the sensing and artificial intelligence (AI) as new typical scenarios. These upcoming changes will introduce new security challenges. Meanwhile, the users and applications of 6G will shift towards a smart industry, digital healthcare, digital twin and extended world, etc., which leads data transmission, storage and utilization to become much more vulnerable to privacy leaks and illegal usages. Since security, privacy and resiliency are emphasized as the key integrated capabilities of the 6G network, it is crucial to develop new security and privacy techniques to incorporate in the design of 6G networks.

In this regard, the objective of this Special Issue is to develop ground-breaking techniques to provide security and privacy for 6G wireless communications. Original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• New security/privacy concepts within 6G and beyond;
• Physical layer security towards 6G;
• Security/privacy opportunities and challenges in reconfigurable intelligent; surfaces, mmWave, Massive MIMO, THz, and other emerging new technologies for 6G wireless communications;

• Security/privacy of joint communications and sensing/integrated sensing and communication;
• Security/privacy in edge AI/ML;
• Security and privacy for IoTs;
• Security of satellite communications, UAVs, integration of space–aerial–terrestrial integrated networks;
• Cross-layer security mechanisms;
• Covert communications;
• Lightweight security solutions for resource limited devices;
• New attack and defence models for 6G and beyond;
• Security/privacy in semantic communications;
• Authentication, authorization, trustworthiness and access control for 6G and beyond;
• Blockchain, quantum cryptography for 6G and beyond;
• Concepts, architecture, models and techniques of endogenous security in 6G and beyond;
• Prototype, testbeds, and performance evaluation.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Na Li
Prof. Dr. Jin Cao
Dr. Xiaoming Xu
Guest Editors

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• wireless security
• privacy
• covert communication
• 6G