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In this study, we present a dual-hop decode-and-forward relaying-based free-space optical (FSO) communication system. We consider utilizing simultaneous lightwave information and power transfer (SLIPT) with a time-splitting technique at the relay, where the direct current component of the received optical signal is harvested as a transmit power for the relay. It is assumed that the FSO links experience a Malaga turbulence channel with pointing errors. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed communication system, closed-form expressions for outage probability, ergodic capacity, average bit error rate, and throughput are derived. Additionally, to analyze the physical layer security of the proposed system, closed-form expressions for secrecy outage probability and strictly positive secrecy capacity are obtained. Finally, the accuracy of the derived analytical expressions are validated with Monte Carlo simulations. Results show that our proposed system model outperforms its non-SLIPT counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Vehicles (IoV), a key component of smart transportation systems, leverages 5G communication for low-latency data transmission, facilitating real-time interactions between vehicles, roadside units (RSUs), and sensor networks. However, the open nature of 5G communication channels exposes IoV systems to significant security threats, such as eavesdropping, replay attacks, and message tampering. To address these challenges, this paper proposes the Efficient Cluster-based Mutual Authentication and Key Update Protocol (ECAUP) designed to secure IoV systems within 5G-enabled sensor networks. The ECAUP meets the unique mobility and security demands of IoV by enabling fine-grained access control and dynamic key updates for RSUs through a factorial tree structure, ensuring both forward and backward secrecy. Additionally, physical unclonable functions (PUFs) are utilized to provide end-to-end authentication and physical layer security, further enhancing the system's resilience against sophisticated cyber-attacks. The security of the ECAUP is formally verified using BAN Logic and ProVerif, and a comparative analysis demonstrates its superiority in terms of overhead efficiency (more than 50%) and security features over existing protocols. This work contributes to the development of secure, resilient, and efficient intelligent transportation systems, ensuring robust communication and protection in sensor-based IoV environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency diverse array (FDA) is an architecture capable of beamforming in both range and angle, improving upon the traditional phased array (PA) which can only achieve beamforming in angle. The FDA employing directional modulation (DM) for secure directional communications (SDC) can reduce bit error rates (BERs) in both range and angle, again improving upon the traditional PA which can only reduce BER in angle. In this paper, we document the challenges involved in the design and implementation of a two-element linear FDA employing fast-time binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) modulations. We also show that the experimentally collected field data match well with the results of simulations based on our analytical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents research on the security performance of a multi-user interference-based mixed RF/FSO system based on SWIPT untrusted relay. In this work, the RF and FSO channels experience Nakagami-m fading distribution and Málaga (M) turbulence, respectively. Multiple users transmit messages to the destination with the help of multiple cooperating relays, one of which may become an untrusted relay as an insider attacker. In a multi-user network, SWIPT acts as a charging device for each user node. In order to prevent the untrusted relays from eavesdropping on the information, some users are randomly assigned to transmit artificial noise in order to interfere with untrusted relays, and the remaining users send information to relay nodes. Based on the above system model, the closed-form expressions of secrecy outage probability (SOP) and average secrecy capacity (ASC) for the mixed RF/FSO system are derived. The correctness of these expressions is verified by the Monte Carlo method. The influences of various key factors on the safety performance of the system are analyzed by simulations. The results show that the security performance of the system is considerably improved by increasing the signal–interference noise ratio, the number of interfering users, the time distribution factor and the energy conversion efficiency when the instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the RF link instantaneous SNR is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study covert communications in a hybrid decode-and-forward (DF)/ amplify-and-forward (AF) relay system. The considered relay in normal operation forwards messages from a source node to a destination node in either DF or AF mode on request. Meanwhile, the source and destination nodes also attempt to secretly exchange covert messages such as confidential or sensitive information and avoid detection by the covert message detector embedded on the relay. We first establish an optimal DF/AF mode selection criterion to maximize the covert rate based on the analyses of delay-aware achievable covert rates of individual DF and AF modes. To further reduce the time complexity, we propose a low-complexity selection criterion as well for practical use. The numerical results demonstrate the covert rate gain as high as 50% and running time gain as high as 20% for particular system parameters, which verify the effectiveness of the proposed criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancements in wireless communication and automation have revolutionized mobility systems, notably through autonomous vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAV spatial coordinates, determined via Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, are susceptible to cyberattacks due to unencrypted and unauthenticated transmissions with GPS spoofing being a significant threat. To mitigate these vulnerabilities, intrusion detection systems (IDSs) for UAVs have been developed and enhanced using machine learning (ML) algorithms. However, Adversarial Machine Learning (AML) has introduced new risks by exploiting ML models. This study presents a UAV-IDS employing AML methodology to enhance the detection and classification of GPS spoofing attacks. The key contribution is the development of an AML detection model that significantly improves UAV system robustness and security. Our findings indicate that the model achieves a detection accuracy of 98%, demonstrating its effectiveness in managing large-scale datasets and complex tasks. This study emphasizes the importance of physical layer security for enhancing IDSs in UAVs by introducing a novel detection model centered on an adversarial training defense method and advanced deep learning techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the expansion of wireless mobile networks into both the daily lives of individuals as well as into the widely developing market of connected devices, communication is an increasingly attractive target for attackers. As the complexity of mobile cellular systems grows and the respective countermeasures are implemented to secure data transmissions, the attacks have become increasingly sophisticated on the one hand, but at the same time the system complexity can open up expanded opportunities for security and privacy breaches. After an in-depth summary of possible entry points to attacks to mobile networks, this paper first briefly reviews the basic principles of the physical layer implementation of 4G/5G systems, then gives an overview of possible attacks from a physical layer perspective. It also provides an overview of the software frameworks and hardware tool-software defined radios currently in use for experimenting with 4G/5G mobile networks, and it discusses their basic capabilities. In the final part, the paper summarizes the currently most promising families of techniques to detect illegitimate base stations—the machine-learning-based, localization-based, and behavior-based methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing demand for data exchange between nearby devices in proximity-based services, enhancing the security of wireless mutual broadcast (WMB) networks is crucial. However, WMB networks are inherently vulnerable to eavesdropping due to the open broadcast nature of their communication. This paper investigates the improvement of secrecy performance in random-access-based WMB (RA-WMB) networks by integrating physical layer security (PLS) techniques with hybrid duplex (HBD) operations under a stochastic geometry framework. The HBD method balances half-duplex (HD) receiving and full-duplex (FD) transceiving, utilizing self-interference cancellation (SIC) to enhance PLS performance. Key operational parameters, including transmission probability (TxPr), friendly jammer density, and conditions for FD operation, are designed to maximize secrecy performance. The analytical and numerical results demonstrate significant improvements in PLS performance, with SIC playing a critical role, particularly in scenarios with dense legitimate nodes, and with TxPr adjusted to balance HD receiving and FD transceiving based on SIC imperfections. The proposed design principles provide a comprehensive framework for enhancing the security of WMB networks, addressing the complex interplay of interference and SIC in various network configurations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the secrecy performance of a visible light communication (VLC) system consisting of distributed light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and multiple users (UEs) randomly positioned within an indoor environment while considering the presence of an eavesdropper. To enhance the confidentiality of the system, we formulate a problem of maximizing the sum secrecy rate for UEs by searching for an optimal LED for each UE. Due to the non-convex and non-continuous nature of this security maximization problem, we propose an LED selection algorithm based on tabu search to avoid getting trapped in local optima and expedite the search process by managing trial vectors from previous iterations. Moreover, we introduce three LED selection strategies with a low computational complexity. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm achieves a secrecy performance very close to the global optimal value, with a gap of less than 1%. Additionally, the proposed strategies exhibit a performance gap of 28% compared to the global optimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overlapped Time Domain Multiplexing (OvTDM) is a high-rate transmission technology that employs the idea of superposition coded modulation (SCM) scheme for signal generation, aiming to achieve maximum channel capacity sharing. Meanwhile, it is also widely considered as a promising technique toward physical layer security. As a main drawback of such system, a high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) issue in this system, arising from multi-layer superposition, can be addressed through intentional clipping. However, the detection at the receiver side is vulnerable to nonlinear distortion caused by clipping, which can degrade the performance. To mitigate this distortion, this paper proposed an iterative scheme for estimating and partially canceling clipping distortion at the receiver. We managed to mitigate the impact of clipping noise as much as possible and minimize the cost of optimizing PAPR, thereby improving the transmission performance of OvTDM in the context of amplitude clipping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem that the traditional physical layer technology cannot realize secure transmission due to the large number of users and wide dispersion in the multicast system, a layered transmission method is proposed, and a scheme for the secure transmission of the multicast group physical layer is designed. Firstly, the hierarchical transmission system model is established. Then, the array weighted vector of each layer is optimized according to the design criterion of maximizing the artificial noise interference power. At the same time, in the case where the number of users in a single multicast group is greater than the number of transmitting antennas, a multicast grouping strategy is introduced, and the singular value decomposition and Lagrange multiplier algorithms are utilized to obtain the optimal solution. Simulation results show that the proposed method can realize the secure communication of users with different distances in the same direction and can distinguish the multicast users with the same direction angle and different distances under the premise of mutual non-interference, thus realizing the secure communication of large-scale multicast users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the performance of covert communications in different types of a relay system: decode-and-forward (DF), compress-and-forward (CF) and amplify-and-forward (AF). We consider a source node that attempts to send both public and covert messages to a destination node through a relay on which a covert message detector is embedded. By taking the minimum detection error probability (DEP) at the relay into account, we optimize the power distribution between the public and covert messages to achieve the maximum covert rate. We further make a delay-aware comparison among DF, CF and AF relay systems with the obtained closed-form covert rates and conduct an extensive examination on the asymptotic behaviors in different limits. Our analyses reveal that CF or AF tend to outperform DF for high source transmit power or low relay transmit power, while various system parameters such as the processing delay, minimum required quality of service for public messages and DEP threshold lead to different performance relationships among DF, CF and AF for high relay transmit power. Numerical results verify our investigation into the performance comparison in various channel models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new physical layer authenticated encryption (PLAE) scheme based on the multi-parameter fractional Fourier transform–Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MP-FrFT-OFDM) is suggested for secure image transmission over the IoT network. In addition, a new robust multi-cascaded chaotic modular fractional sine map (MCC-MF sine map) is designed and analyzed. Also, a new dynamic chaotic biometric signature (DCBS) generator based on combining the biometric signature and the proposed MCC-MF sine map random chaotic sequence output is also designed. The final output of the proposed DCBS generator is used as a dynamic secret key for the MPFrFT OFDM system in which the encryption process is applied in the frequency domain. The proposed DCBS secret key generator generates a very large key space of 2 2200 . The proposed DCBS secret keys generator can achieve the confidentiality and authentication properties. Statistical analysis, differential analysis and a key sensitivity test are performed to estimate the security strengths of the proposed DCBS-MP-FrFT-OFDM cryptosystem over the IoT network. The experimental results show that the proposed DCBS-MP-FrFT-OFDM cryptosystem is robust against common signal processing attacks and provides a high security level for image encryption application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the security–reliability of simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT)-assisted amplify-and-forward (AF) full-duplex (FD) relay networks. In practice, an AF-FD relay harvests energy from the source (S) using the power-splitting (PS) protocol. We propose an analysis of the related reliability and security by deriving closed-form formulas for outage probability (OP) and intercept probability (IP). The next contribution of this research is an asymptotic analysis of OP and IP, which was generated to obtain more insight into important system parameters. We validate the analytical formulas and analyze the impact on the key system parameters using Monte Carlo simulations. Finally, we propose a deep learning network (DNN) with minimal computation complexity and great accuracy for OP and IP predictions. The effects of the system's primary parameters on OP and IP are examined and described, along with the numerical data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multihop transmission is one of the important techniques to overcome the transmission coverage of each node in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, multihop transmission has a security issue due to the nature of a wireless medium. Additionally, the eavesdropper also attempts to interrupt the legitimate users' transmission. Thus, in this paper, we study the secrecy performance of a multihop transmission under various eavesdropping attacks for WSNs. To improve the secrecy performance, we propose two node selection schemes in each cluster, namely, minimum node selection (MNS) and optimal node selection (ONS) schemes. To exploit the impact of the network parameters on the secrecy performance, we derive the closed-form expression of the secrecy outage probability (SOP) under different eavesdropping attacks. From the numerical results, the ONS scheme shows the most robust secrecy performance compared with the other schemes. However, the ONS scheme requires a lot of channel information to select the node in each cluster and transmit information. On the other side, the MNS scheme can reduce the amount of channel information compared with the ONS scheme, while the MNS scheme still provides secure transmission. In addition, the impact of the network parameters on the secrecy performance is also insightfully discussed in this paper. Moreover, we evaluate the trade-off of the proposed schemes between secrecy performance and computational complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents research on the physical layer security performance of a multi-user mixed RF/FSO system based on optimal user interference. In this system model, the RF link experiences Rayleigh fading, and the FSO link follows the Fischer–Snedecor F distribution. The system adopts a double-hop-decode-and-forward (DF) relay scheme. We also consider the effect of directivity errors in the FSO link and assume the presence of an illegal eavesdropper with a single antenna near the RF link. The source node controls the energy collection and information forwarding using a multi-user structure based on simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT). We select the optimal user to jam the eavesdropper's communication. We derive closed-form expressions for the mixed RF/FSO communication system's secrecy outage probability (SOP) and average secrecy capacity (ASC). Monte Carlo simulations are performed to verify the accuracy of these expressions. By formulating and simulating the simulation system, the impact of various important factors on the mixed system's physical layer security (PLS) is analyzed. The analysis indicates that increasing the number of antennas and interference signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the optimal user, the time allocation factor and energy conversion efficiency, and the improvement in the quality of atmospheric channels with improved weather will significantly enhance this system's PLS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covert communications have arisen as an effective communications security measure that overcomes some of the limitations of cryptography and physical layer security. The main objective is to completely conceal from external devices the very existence of the link for exchanging confidential messages. In this paper, we take a step further and consider a scenario in which a covert communications node disguises itself as another functional entity for even more covertness. To be specific, we study a system where a source node communicates with a seemingly receive-only destination node which, in fact, is full-duplex (FD) and covertly delivers critical messages to another hidden receiver while evading the surveillance. Our aim is to identify the achievable covert rate at the hidden receiver by optimizing the public data rate and the transmit power of the FD destination node subject to the worst-case detection error probability (DEP) of the warden. Closed-form solutions are provided, and we investigate the effects of various system parameters on the covert rate through numerical results, one of which reveals that applying more (less) destination transmit power achieves a higher covert rate when the source transmit power is low (high). Since our work provides a performance guideline from the information-theoretic point of view, we conclude this paper with a discussion on possible future research such as analyses with practical modulations and imperfect channel state information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Moore's law, the density of integrated circuits is increasing in all dimensions, for instance, in 3D stacked chip networks. Amongst other electro-optic solutions, multimode optical interconnects on a silicon interposer promise to enable high throughput for modern hardware platforms in a restricted space. Such integrated architectures require confidential communication between multiple chips as a key factor for high-performance infrastructures in the 5G era and beyond. Physical layer security is an approach providing information theoretic security among network participants, exploiting the uniqueness of the data channel. We experimentally project orthogonal and non-orthogonal symbols through 380 μ m long multimode on-chip interconnects by wavefront shaping. These interconnects are investigated for their uniqueness by repeating these experiments across multiple channels and samples. We show that the detected speckle patterns resulting from modal crosstalk can be recognized by training a deep neural network, which is used to transform these patterns into a corresponding readable output. The results showcase the feasibility of applying physical layer security to multimode interconnects on silicon interposers for confidential optical 3D chip networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce a technique to generate and read the digital signature of the networks, channels, and optical devices that possess the fiber-optic pigtails to enhance physical layer security (PLS). Attributing a signature to the networks or devices eases the identification and authentication of networks and systems thus reducing their vulnerability to physical and digital attacks. The signatures are generated using an optical physical unclonable function (OPUF). Considering that OPUFs are established as the most potent anti-counterfeiting tool, the created signatures are robust against malicious attacks such as tampering and cyber attacks. We investigate Rayleigh backscattering signal (RBS) as a strong OPUF to generate reliable signatures. Contrary to other OPUFs that must be fabricated, the RBS-based OPUF is an inherent feature of fibers and can be easily obtained using optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR). We evaluate the security of the generated signatures in terms of their robustness against prediction and cloning. We demonstrate the robustness of signatures against digital and physical attacks confirming the unpredictability and unclonability features of the generated signatures. We explore signature cyber security by considering the random structure of the produced signatures. To demonstrate signature reproducibility through repeated measurements, we simulate the signature of a system by adding a random Gaussian white noise to the signal. This model is proposed to address services including security, authentication, identification, and monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a new technology for reconstructing communication environments, intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) can be applied to UAV communication systems. However, some challenges exist in IRS-assisted UAV communication system design, such as physical layer security issues, IRS design, and power consumption issues owing to the limitation of the hardware. Therefore, a secrecy capacity optimization scheme for an active IRS-assisted unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication system is proposed to solve multi-user security issues. In particular, controllable power amplifiers are integrated into reflecting units to solve the problem of blocked links, and the UAV can dynamically select the served user according to the channel quality. In order to maximize the system average achievable secrecy capacity and ensure the power constraints of the UAV and active IRS, user scheduling, UAV trajectory, beamforming vector, and reflection matrix are jointly optimized, and the block coordinate descent (BCD) algorithm is applied to solve this non-convex problem. Simulation results show that the active IRS-assisted UAV communication scheme can significantly weaken the "multiplicative fading" effect and enhance the system secrecy capacity by 55.4% and 11.9% compared with the schemes with passive IRS and without optimal trajectory, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) are considered of paramount importance to improve air–ground and THz communications performance for 6G systems. Recently, RISs were proposed in Physical Layer Security (PLS), as they can (i) improve the secrecy capacity due to the controlled directional reflections' capability of RIS elements and (ii) avoid potential eavesdroppers, redirecting data streams towards the intended users. This paper proposes the integration of a multi-RISs system within a Software Defined Networking (SDN) architecture to provide a specific control layer for secure data flows forwarding. The optimisation problem is properly characterised in terms of an objective function and an equivalent graph theory model is considered to address the optimal solution. Moreover, different heuristics are proposed, trading off complexity and PLS performance, to evaluate the more suitable multi-beam routing strategy. Numerical results are also provided, focusing on a worst case scenario which points out the improvement of the secrecy rate from the increase in the number of eavesdroppers. Furthermore, the security performance is investigated for a specific user mobility pattern in a pedestrian scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical layer security is a promising technique to ensure the confidentiality of short-packet communications, since no additional channel uses are needed. Motivated by the fact of finite coding blocklength in short-packet communications, we attempt to investigate the problem of how many the channel uses utilized for channel training should be allocated to perform secure communications. Based on the finite blocklength information theory, we derive a closed-form expression to approximate the average achievable secrecy throughput. To gain more insights, we also present the asymptotic average secrecy throughput under two special cases, i.e., high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and infinite blocklength. Moreover, we determine the optimal channel training length to maximize the average secrecy throughput under the reliability constraint and given blocklength. Numerical results are provided to validate the analysis and demonstrate that the performance gain achieved by the optimal channel training length is remarkable, relative to other benchmark schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies the secrecy communication threatened by a single eavesdropper in Energy Harvesting (EH)-based cognitive radio networks, where both the Secure User (SU) and the jammer harvest, store, and utilize RF energy from the Primary Transmitter (PT). Our main goal is to optimize the time slots for energy harvesting and wireless communication for both the secure user as well as the jammer to maximize the long-term performance of secrecy communication. A multi-agent Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) method is proposed for solving the optimization of resource allocation and performance. Specifically, each sub-channel from the Secure Transmitter (ST) to the Secure Receiver (SR) link, along with the jammer to the eavesdropper link, is regarded as an agent, which is responsible for exploring optimal power allocation strategy while a time allocation network is established to obtain optimal EH time allocation strategy. Every agent dynamically interacts with the wireless communication environment. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed DRL-based resource allocation method outperforms the existing schemes in terms of secrecy rate, convergence speed, and the average number of transition steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber-optic network infrastructures are crucial for the transmission of data over long and short distances. Fiber optics are also preferred for the infrastructure of in-building data communications. In this study, we use polarization analysis to ensure the security of the optical fiber/cables of the physical layer. This method exploits the changes induced by mechanical vibrations to polarization states, which can be easily detected using a polarization beam splitter and a balancing photodetector. We use machine learning to classify selected events that violate the safety of the physical layer, such as manipulation or temporary disconnection of connectors. The results show the resting state can be accurately distinguished from selected security breaches for a fiber route subjected to environmental disturbances, where individual events can be classified with nearly 99% accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), industrial wireless sensors need to upload the collected private data to the cloud servers, resulting in a large amount of private data being exposed on the Internet. Private data are vulnerable to hacking. Many complex wireless-sensor-authentication protocols have been proposed. In this paper, we proposed an efficient authentication protocol for IIoT-oriented wireless sensor networks. The protocol introduces the PUF chip, and uses the Bloom filter to save and query the challenge–response pairs generated by the PUF chip. It ensures the security of the physical layer of the device and reduces the computing cost and communication cost of the wireless sensor side. The protocol introduces a pre-authentication mechanism to achieve continuous authentication between the gateway and the cloud server. The overall computational cost of the protocol is reduced. Formal security analysis and informal security analysis proved that our proposed protocol has more security features. We implemented various security primitives using the MIRACL cryptographic library and GMP large number library. Our proposed protocol was compared in-depth with related work. Detailed experiments show that our proposed protocol significantly reduces the computational cost and communication cost on the wireless sensor side and the overall computational cost of the protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the secrecy coding analysis achieved by the self-jamming technique in the presence of an eavesdropper by considering a short-packet Full-Duplex (FD) transmission developed based on iterative blind or semi-blind channel estimation and advanced decoding algorithms. Indeed, the legitimate receiver and eavesdropper can simultaneously receive the intended signal from the transmitter and broadcast a self-jamming or jamming signal to the others. Unlike other conventional techniques without feedback, the blind or semi-blind algorithm applied at the legitimate receiver can simultaneously estimate, firstly, the Self-Interference (SI) channel to cancel the SI component and, secondly, estimate the propagation channel, then decode the intended messages by using 5G Quasi-Cyclic Low-Density Parity Check (QC-LDPC) codes. Taking into account the passive eavesdropper case, the blind channel estimation with a feedback scheme is applied, where the temporary estimation of the intended channel and the decoded message are fed back to improve both the channel estimation and the decoding processes. Only the blind algorithm needs to be implemented in the case of a passive eavesdropper because it achieves sufficient performances and does not require adding pilot symbols as the semi-blind algorithm. In the case of an active eavesdropper, based on its robustness in the low region of the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), the semi-blind algorithm is considered by trading four pilot symbols and only requiring the feedback for channel estimation processes in order to overcome the increase in noise in the legitimate receiver. The results show that the blind or semi-blind algorithms outperform the conventional algorithm in terms of Mean Square Error (MSE), Bit Error Rate (BER) and security gap ( S g ). In addition, it has been shown that the blind or semi-blind algorithms are less sensitive to high SI and self-jamming interference power levels imposed by secured FD transmission than the conventional algorithms without feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of low-cost Internet of Things (IoT) devices has led to a race between wireless security and channel attacks. Traditional cryptography requires high computational power and is not suitable for low-power IoT scenarios. Whilst recently developed physical layer security (PLS) can exploit common wireless channel state information (CSI), its sensitivity to channel estimation makes them vulnerable to attacks. In this work, we exploit an alternative common physics shared between IoT transceivers: the monitored channel-irrelevant physical networked dynamics (e.g., water/oil/gas/electrical signal-flows). Leveraging this, we propose, for the first time, graph layer security (GLS), by exploiting the dependency in physical dynamics among network nodes for information encryption and decryption. A graph Fourier transform (GFT) operator is used to characterise such dependency into a graph-bandlimited subspace, which allows the generation of channel-irrelevant cipher keys by maximising the secrecy rate. We evaluate our GLS against designed active and passive attackers, using IEEE 39-Bus system. Results demonstrate that GLS is not reliant on wireless CSI, and can combat attackers that have partial networked dynamic knowledge (realistic access to full dynamic and critical nodes remains challenging). We believe this novel GLS has widespread applicability in secure health monitoring and for digital twins in adversarial radio environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The security issue of wireless communication is a common concern because of its broadcast nature, especially when the relay becomes an eavesdropper. In the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) relay system, when the relay is untrusted, the security of the system faces serious threats. Although there exist some resource allocation schemes in a single-carrier system with untrusted relaying, it is difficult to apply them to the multi-carrier system. Hence, a resource allocation scheme for the multi-carrier system is needed. Compared to the one-way relay system, a two-way relay system can improve the data transmission efficiency. In this paper, we consider joint secure resource allocation for a two-way cooperative OFDM system with an untrusted relay. The joint resource allocation problem of power allocation and subcarrier pairing is formulated to maximize the sum secrecy rate of the system under individual power constraints. To solve the non-convex problem efficiently, we propose an algorithm based on the alternative optimization method. The proposed algorithm is evaluated by simulation results and compared with the benchmarks in the literature. According to the numerical results, in a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) scenario, the proposed algorithm improves the achievable sum secrecy rate of the system by more than 15% over conventional algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The security problem in wireless sensor networks faces severe challenges, due to the openness of the sensor network channel and the mobility and diversity of the terminals. When facing randomly located eavesdroppers, the situation is much more complex. This paper studies the security performance of a wireless sensor network where randomly located passive and active eavesdroppers are both considered. Compared to a passive eavesdropper, an active eavesdropper can perform both eavesdropping and malicious jamming simultaneously in a wireless sensor network. Based on beamforming and artificial noise (AN), we propose a practical way to defend against the eavesdropper by establishing a protecting region. An appropriate metric, the hybrid outage probability, which takes both the transmission outage probability and the secrecy outage probability into consideration, is utilized to evaluate the security performance. In addition, the concept of safe transmission range is defined to evaluate the security performance. Simulation results are provided to depict the insecure region and verify the harm of the active eavesdropper to the transmission in the wireless sensor network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperative relaying is an effective technology to improve the capacity of physical-layer security, in which the relay helps forward the received signal to the destination. In this paper, a cooperative compressive sensing and amplify-and-forward (CCS-AF) scheme, which combines the compressive sensing theory and amplify-and-forward strategy, is proposed to increase the secrecy capacity. To optimize the secrecy performance, a coalition formation algorithm based on coalitional game theory of optimal relay selection is proposed to maximize the secrecy capacity. Different to maximizing the individual utility based on the traditional pareto order, the max-coalition order rule is newly defined to guide the coalitional formation. Simulation results indicate that with the proposed algorithm, part of the relays could form a coalition to forward the information and the proposed algorithm could significantly improve the secrecy capacity of cooperative multi-relay networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the secrecy performance of the two-user simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) sensor networks is studied and a novel secure transmission scheme of cooperative zero-forcing (ZF) jamming is proposed. The two sensors opportunistically conduct the SWIPT and cooperative ZF jamming, respectively, where the energy required for jamming the eavesdropper is provided by the SWIPT operation so as to keep the energy balance at the sensors in the long run. By deriving the exact closed-form expressions of the secrecy outage probability and the secrecy throughout, we provide an effective approach to precisely assess the impacts of key parameters on the secrecy performance of the system. It has been shown that the secrecy outage probability is a monotonically increasing function of the growth of secrecy rate (Rs), and a monotonically decreasing function of the increase of the transmit signal-to-noise ratio (γS), and energy conversion efficiency (h). Furthermore, the secrecy throughput could be enhanced when h increases, which becomes especially obvious when a large γS is provided. Moreover, the existence of an optimum Rs maximizing the secrecy throughput is depicted, which also grows with the increase of γS. Simulations are provided for the validation of the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) represents a bright prospect that a variety of common appliances can connect to one another, as well as with the rest of the Internet, to vastly improve our lives. Unique communication and security challenges have been brought out by the limited hardware, low-complexity, and severe energy constraints of IoT devices. In addition, a severe spectrum scarcity problem has also been stimulated by the use of a large number of IoT devices. In this paper, cognitive IoT (CIoT) is considered where an IoT network works as the secondary system using underlay spectrum sharing. A wireless energy harvesting (EH) node is used as a relay to improve the coverage of an IoT device. However, the relay could be a potential eavesdropper to intercept the IoT device's messages. This paper considers the problem of secure communication between the IoT device (e.g., sensor) and a destination (e.g., controller) via the wireless EH untrusted relay. Since the destination can be equipped with adequate energy supply, secure schemes based on destination-aided jamming are proposed based on power splitting (PS) and time splitting (TS) policies, called intuitive secure schemes based on PS (Int-PS), precoded secure scheme based on PS (Pre-PS), intuitive secure scheme based on TS (Int-TS) and precoded secure scheme based on TS (Pre-TS), respectively. The secure performances of the proposed schemes are evaluated through the metric of probability of successfully secure transmission (PSST), which represents the probability that the interference constraint of the primary user is satisfied and the secrecy rate is positive. PSST is analyzed for the proposed secure schemes, and the closed form expressions of PSST for Pre-PS and Pre-TS are derived and validated through simulation results. Numerical results show that the precoded secure schemes have better PSST than the intuitive secure schemes under similar power consumption. When the secure schemes based on PS and TS polices have similar PSST, the average transmit power consumption of the secure scheme based on TS is lower. The influences of power splitting and time slitting ratios are also discussed through simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are widely used in different disciplines, including transportation systems, agriculture field environment monitoring, healthcare systems, and industrial monitoring. The security challenge of the wireless communication link between sensor nodes is critical in WSNs. In this paper, we propose a new physical layer secret-key generation scheme for transportation security sensor network. The scheme is based on the cooperation of all the sensor nodes, thus avoiding the key distribution process, which increases the security of the system. Different passive and active attack models are analyzed in this paper. We also prove that when the cooperative node number is large enough, even when the eavesdropper is equipped with multiple antennas, the secret-key is still secure. Numerical results are performed to show the efficiency of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate simultaneous wireless power transfer and secure multicasting via cooperative decode-and-forward (DF) relays in the presence of multiple energy receivers and eavesdroppers. Two scenarios are considered under a total power budget: maximizing the minimum harvested energy among the energy receivers under a multicast secrecy rate constraint; and maximizing the multicast secrecy rate under a minimum harvested energy constraint. For both scenarios, we solve the transmit power allocation and relay beamformer design problems by using semidefinite relaxation and bisection technique. We present numerical results to analyze the energy harvesting and secure multicasting performances in cooperative DF relay networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Security and privacy are crucial for cognitive sensor radio networks (CSRNs) due to the possible eavesdropping between secondary sensors and the secondary fusion center. Motivated by this observation, we investigate the physical layer security performance of CSRNs with an external energy harvesting (EH)-based eavesdropper. Considering the underlay working paradigm of CSRNs, the transmit power of the secondary sensor node must be adjusted to guarantee the quality-of-service (QoS) of the primary user. Hence, two different interference power constraint scenarios are studied in this paper. To give an intuitive insight into the secrecy performance of the considered wiretap scenarios, we have derived the closed-form analytical expressions of secrecy outage probability for both of the considered cases. Monte Carlo simulation results are also performed to verify the theoretical analysis derived, and show the effect of various parameters on the system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical layer security is an attractive security mechanism, which exploits the randomness characteristics of wireless transmission channel to achieve security. However, it is hampered by the limitation of the channel condition that the main channel must be better than the eavesdropper channel. To alleviate the limitation, cooperative communication is introduced. Few studies have investigated the physical layer security of the relay transmission model. In this paper, we performed some experiments to evaluate the physical layer security of a cooperative communication system, with a relay operating in decode-and-forward (DF) cooperative mode, selfish and malicious behavior in real non-ideal transmission environment. Security performance is evaluated in terms of the probability of non-zero secrecy capacity. Experiments showed some different results compared to theoretical simulation: (1) to achieve the maximum secrecy capacity, the optimal relay power according to the experiments result is larger than that of ideal theoretical results under both cooperative and selfish behavior relay; (2) the relay in malicious behavior who forwards noise to deteriorate the main channel may deteriorate the eavesdropper channel more seriously than the main channel; (3) the optimal relay positions under cooperative and selfish behavior relay cases are both located near the destination because of non-ideal transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the physical layer security (PLS) of opportunistic scheduling for uplink scenarios of multiuser multirelay cooperative networks. To this end, we propose a low-complexity, yet comparable secrecy performance source relay selection scheme, called the proposed source relay selection (PSRS) scheme. Specifically, the PSRS scheme first selects the least vulnerable source and then selects the relay that maximizes the system secrecy capacity for the given selected source. Additionally, the maximal ratio combining (MRC) technique and the selection combining (SC) technique are considered at the eavesdropper, respectively. Investigating the system performance in terms of secrecy outage probability (SOP), closed-form expressions of the SOP are derived. The developed analysis is corroborated through Monte Carlo simulation. Numerical results show that the PSRS scheme significantly improves the secure ability of the system compared to that of the random source relay selection scheme, but does not outperform the optimal joint source relay selection (OJSRS) scheme. However, the PSRS scheme drastically reduces the required amount of channel state information (CSI) estimations compared to that required by the OJSRS scheme, specially in dense cooperative networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the secure distributed detection problems under energy constraint for IoT-oriented sensor networks. The conventional channel-aware encryption (CAE) is an efficient physical-layer secure distributed detection scheme in light of its energy efficiency, good scalability and robustness over diverse eavesdropping scenarios. However, in the CAE scheme, it remains an open problem of how to optimize the key thresholds for the estimated channel gain, which are used to determine the sensor's reporting action. Moreover, the CAE scheme does not jointly consider the accuracy of local detection results in determining whether to stay dormant for a sensor. To solve these problems, we first analyze the error probability and derive the optimal thresholds in the CAE scheme under a specified energy constraint. These results build a convenient mathematic framework for our further innovative design. Under this framework, we propose a hybrid secure distributed detection scheme. Our proposal can satisfy the energy constraint by keeping some sensors inactive according to the local detection confidence level, which is characterized by likelihood ratio. In the meanwhile, the security is guaranteed through randomly flipping the local decisions forwarded to the fusion center based on the channel amplitude. We further optimize the key parameters of our hybrid scheme, including two local decision thresholds and one channel comparison threshold. Performance evaluation results demonstrate that our hybrid scheme outperforms the CAE under stringent energy constraints, especially in the high signal-to-noise ratio scenario, while the security is still assured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the secure transmission in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) consisting of one multiple-antenna base station (BS), multiple single-antenna legitimate users, one single-antenna eavesdropper and one multiple-antenna cooperative jammer. In an effort to reduce the scheduling complexity and extend the battery lifetime of the sensor nodes, the switch-and-stay combining (SSC) scheduling scheme is exploited over the sensor nodes. Meanwhile, transmit antenna selection (TAS) is employed at the BS and cooperative jamming (CJ) is adopted at the jammer node, aiming at achieving a satisfactory secrecy performance. Moreover, depending on whether the jammer node has the global channel state information (CSI) of both the legitimate channel and the eavesdropper's channel, it explores a zero-forcing beamforming (ZFB) scheme or a null-space artificial noise (NAN) scheme to confound the eavesdropper while avoiding the interference to the legitimate user. Building on this, we propose two novel hybrid secure transmission schemes, termed TAS-SSC-ZFB and TAS-SSC-NAN, for WSNs. We then derive the exact closed-form expressions for the secrecy outage probability and the effective secrecy throughput of both schemes to characterize the secrecy performance. Using these closed-form expressions, we further determine the optimal switching threshold and obtain the optimal power allocation factor between the BS and jammer node for both schemes to minimize the secrecy outage probability, while the optimal secrecy rate is decided to maximize the effective secrecy throughput for both schemes. Numerical results are provided to verify the theoretical analysis and illustrate the impact of key system parameters on the secrecy performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a transmit power allocation problem for secure transmission in multi-hop decode-and-forward (DF) full-duplex relay (FDR) networks, where multiple FDRs are located at each hop and perform cooperative beamforming to null out the signal at multiple eavesdroppers. For a perfect self-interference cancellation (PSIC) case, where the self-interference signal at each FDR is completely canceled, we derive an optimal power allocation (OPA) strategy using the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) conditions to maximize the achievable secrecy rate under an overall transmit power constraint. In the case where residual self-interferences exist owing to imperfect self-interference cancellation (ISIC), we also propose a transmit power allocation scheme using the geometric programming (GP) method. Numerical results are presented to verify the secrecy rate performance of the proposed power allocation schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relaying is one of the useful techniques to enhance wireless physical-layer security. Existing literature shows that employing full-duplex relay instead of conventional half-duplex relay improves secrecy capacity and secrecy outage probability, but this is at the price of sophisticated implementation. As an alternative, two-path successive relaying has been proposed to emulate operation of full-duplex relay by scheduling a pair of half-duplex relays to assist the source transmission alternately. However, the performance of two-path successive relaying in secrecy communication remains unexplored. This paper proposes a secrecy two-path successive relaying protocol for a scenario with one source, one destination and two half-duplex relays. The relays operate alternately in a time division mode to forward messages continuously from source to destination in the presence of an eavesdropper. Analytical results reveal that the use of two half-duplex relays in the proposed scheme contributes towards a quadratically lower probability of interception compared to full-duplex relaying. Numerical simulations show that the proposed protocol achieves the ergodic achievable secrecy rate of full-duplex relaying while delivering the lowest probability of interception and secrecy outage probability compared to the existing half duplex relaying, full duplex relaying and full duplex jamming schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a significant branch of the ongoing advances in the Internet and mobile communications. Yet, the use of a large number of IoT devices can severely worsen the spectrum scarcity problem. The usable spectrum resources are almost entirely occupied, and thus, the increasing demands of radio access from IoT devices cannot be met. To tackle this problem, the Cognitive Internet of Things (CIoT) has been proposed. In a CIoT network, secondary users, i.e., sensors and actuators, can access the licensed spectrum bands provided by licensed primary users (such as cellular telephones). Security is a major concern in CIoT networks. However, the traditional encryption method at upper layers (such as symmetric and asymmetric ciphers) may not be suitable for CIoT networks since these networks are composed of low-profile devices. In this paper, we address the security issues in spectrum-leasing-based CIoT networks using physical layer methods. Considering that the CIoT networks are cooperative in nature, we propose to employ cooperative jamming to achieve secure transmission. In our proposed cooperative jamming scheme, a certain secondary user is employed as the helper to harvest energy transmitted by the source and then uses the harvested energy to generate an artificial noise that jams the eavesdropper without interfering with the legitimate receivers. The goal is to minimize the Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) at the eavesdropper subject to the Quality of Service (QoS) constraints of the primary traffic and the secondary traffic. We formulate the minimization problem into a two-stage robust optimization problem based on the worst-case Channel State Information of the Eavesdropper (ECSI). By using Semi-Definite Programming (SDP), the optimal solutions of the transmit covariance matrices can be obtained. Moreover, in order to build an incentive mechanism for the secondary users, we propose an auction framework based on the cooperative jamming scheme. The proposed auction framework jointly formulates the helper selection and the corresponding energy allocation problems under the constraint of the eavesdropper's SINR. By adopting the Vickrey auction, truthfulness and individual rationality can be achieved. Simulation results demonstrate the effective performance of the cooperative jamming scheme and the auction framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After implementing 5G technology, academia and industry started researching 6th generation wireless network technology (6G). 6G is expected to be implemented around the year 2030. It will offer a significant experience for everyone by enabling hyper-connectivity between people and everything. In addition, it is expected to extend mobile communication possibilities where earlier generations could not have developed. Several potential technologies are predicted to serve as the foundation of 6G networks. These include upcoming and current technologies such as post-quantum cryptography, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), enhanced edge computing, molecular communication, THz, visible light communication (VLC), and distributed ledger (DL) technologies such as blockchain. From a security and privacy perspective, these developments need a reconsideration of prior security traditional methods. New novel authentication, encryption, access control, communication, and malicious activity detection must satisfy the higher significant requirements of future networks. In addition, new security approaches are necessary to ensure trustworthiness and privacy. This paper provides insights into the critical problems and difficulties related to the security, privacy, and trust issues of 6G networks. Moreover, the standard technologies and security challenges per each technology are clarified. This paper introduces the 6G security architecture and improvements over the 5G architecture. We also introduce the security issues and challenges of the 6G physical layer. In addition, the AI/ML layers and the proposed security solution in each layer are studied. The paper summarizes the security evolution in legacy mobile networks and concludes with their security problems and the most essential 6G application services and their security requirements. Finally, this paper provides a complete discussion of 6G networks' trustworthiness and solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical fiber communications are essential for all types of long- and short-distance transmissions. The aim of this paper is to analyze the previously presented security risks and, based on measurements, provide the risk level evaluation. The major risk is the possibility of inserting a splitter into the optical distribution network and capturing a portion of the entire spectrum, i.e., all channels in the optical fiber. Another significant security risk is crosstalk on multiplexers in networks with wavelength division multiplexing. The paper covers the macrobend attenuation evaluation of fiber and back-reflection measurements. Based on the measurements, risks were evaluated for both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint networks and, lastly, the paper covers crosstalk measurements of an optomechanical switch. Finally, all individual risks are evaluated according to the severity, and a proposal for risk minimization is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the physical layer security (PLS) of a simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) relay communication system composed of a legitimate source–destination pair and some eavesdroppers. Supposing a disturbance of channel status information (CSI) between relay and eavesdroppers in a bounded ellipse, we intend to design a robust beamformer to maximum security rate in the worst case on the constraints of relay energy consumption. To handle this non-convex optimization problem, we introduce a slack variable to transform the original problem into two sub-problems firstly, then an algorithm employing a semidefinite relaxation (SDR) technique and S-procedure is proposed to tackle above two sub-problems. Although our study was conducted in the scene of a direct link among source, destination, and eavesdroppers that is non-existing, we demonstrate that our conclusions can be easily extended to the scene for which a direct link among source, destination and eavesdroppers exist. Numerical simulation results compared with the benchmark scheme are provided to prove the effectiveness and superior performance of our algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an original methodology for the design of microcontroller-based physical security systems and its application for the system of mobile robots. The novelty of the proposed methodology lies in combining various design algorithms on the basis of abstract and detailed system representations. The suggested design approach, which is based on the methodology, is modular and extensible, takes into account the security of the physical layer of the system, works with the abstract system representation and is looking for a trade-off between the security of the final solution and the resources expended on it. Moreover, unlike existing solutions, the methodology has a strong focus on security. It is aimed at ensuring the protection of the system against attacks at the design stage, considers security components as an integral part of the system and checks if the system can be designed in accordance with given requirements and limitations. An experimental evaluation of the methodology was conducted with help of its software implementation that consists of Python script, PostgreSQL database, Tkinter interface and available for download on our GitHub. As a use case, the system of mobile robots for perimeter monitoring was chosen. During the experimental evaluation, the design time was measured depending on the parameters of the attacker against which system security must be ensured. Moreover, the software implementation of the methodology was analyzed in compliance with requirements and compared with analogues. The advantages and disadvantages of the methodology as well as future work directions are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the secrecy communication in an underlay cognitive radio (CR) networks with one primary user (PU) as well as multiple PUs, where the radio frequency (RF) energy-harvesting secondary user (SU) transmits the confidential information to the destination in the presence of a potential eavesdropper. We introduce a RF energy-harvesting secondary jammer (SJ) to secure the SU transmissions. The system works in time slots, where each time slot is divided into the energy transfer (ET) phase and the information transfer (IT) phase. In ET phase, the SU and SJ capture energy from the PU transmissions; in the IT phase, the SU uses the harvested energy to transmit information to the destination without causing the harmful interference to the PU transmissions, while the SJ utilizes the captured energy to generate jamming signals to the eavesdropper to secure the SU transmissions. We aim to maximize the secrecy rate for SU transmissionsby jointly optimizing the time allocation between ET phase and IT phase and the transmit power allocation at the SU and SJ. We first formulate the secrecy rate maximization as non-convex optimization problems. Then, we propose efficient nested form algorithms for the non-convex problems. In the outer layer, we obtain the optimal time allocation by the one dimension search method. In the inner layer, we obtain the optimal transmit power allocation by the DC programming, where the Lagrange duality method is employed to solve the convex approximation problem. Simulation results verify that the proposed schemes essentially improve the secrecy rate of the secondary network as compared to the benchmark schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]