6G communications – security issues and possible solutions

Abstract

The 6G communication network emerged with the developments in new generation Information and Communication Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality/Extended Reality, Internet of Things, blockchain technology, etc. The development of 6G has a profound impact on the intelligence process of communication development that consists of intelligent connectivity, deep connectivity, holographic connectivity, and ubiquitous connectivity. Security solutions in terms of distributed ledger technology (DLT), physical layer security, quantum communication, and distributed AI/ML are provided. The Distributed Ledger Technology threats include Majority attack/51% attack, other attacks, etc. The possible solutions include proper access control and authentication mechanisms, selecting the proper blockchain/DLT type according to the 6G application and services, etc. The Physical Layer Security requires line of sight transmission which can be overcome by multipath transmission in Terahertz Technology, broadcast nature of visible light communications which can be overcome by enhancing secrecy performance by using multiple input multiple output technology, Quantum cloning attacks and quantum collision attacks. The poisoning attacks, evasion attacks, and API-based attacks can affect distributed and scalable AI/ML that can be overcome by adversarial training injects, defensive distillation, etc. Finally, the road map for materializing 6G security visions into a reality is provided.