[Paper Review] 6G White paper: Research challenges for Trust, Security and Privacy

Mika Ylianttila, Raimo Kantola+25 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Apr 24, 2020

IoT and Edge/Fog Computing22 references108 citations

TL;DR

The paper maps multidisciplinary research challenges for building trust, security, and privacy in 6G, covering trust modeling, holistic security architectures, and privacy-preserving approaches.

ABSTRACT

The roles of trust, security and privacy are somewhat interconnected, but different facets of next generation networks. The challenges in creating a trustworthy 6G are multidisciplinary spanning technology, regulation, techno-economics, politics and ethics. This white paper addresses their fundamental research challenges in three key areas. Trust: Under the current "open internet" regulation, the telco cloud can be used for trust services only equally for all users. 6G network must support embedded trust for increased level of information security in 6G. Trust modeling, trust policies and trust mechanisms need to be defined. 6G interlinks physical and digital worlds making safety dependent on information security. Therefore, we need trustworthy 6G. Security: In 6G era, the dependence of the economy and societies on IT and the networks will deepen. The role of IT and the networks in national security keeps rising - a continuation of what we see in 5G. The development towards cloud and edge native infrastructures is expected to continue in 6G networks, and we need holistic 6G network security architecture planning. Security automation opens new questions: machine learning can be used to make safer systems, but also more dangerous attacks. Physical layer security techniques can also represent efficient solutions for securing less investigated network segments as first line of defense. Privacy: There is currently no way to unambiguously determine when linked, deidentified datasets cross the threshold to become personally identifiable. Courts in different parts of the world are making decisions about whether privacy is being infringed, while companies are seeking new ways to exploit private data to create new business revenues. As solution alternatives, we may consider blockchain, distributed ledger technologies and differential privacy approaches.

Motivation & Objective

• Identify the interrelated roles of trust, security, and privacy in 6G networks.
• Propose fundamental research challenges across technology, regulation, economics, and ethics.
• Highlight the need for embedded trust and information security in 6G.
• Discuss security architecture planning and privacy-preserving techniques for future networks.

Proposed method

• Survey of multidisciplinary challenges spanning technology, regulation, techno-economics, politics, and ethics.
• Discussion of embedded trust and trust policies for 6G.
• Proposal of a holistic 6G security architecture approach.
• Consideration of machine learning both as a defensive tool and a potential threat.
• Consideration of privacy approaches such as blockchain, distributed ledgers, and differential privacy.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the core trust, security, and privacy challenges unique to 6G compared to prior generations?
• RQ2 How can 6G integrate embedded trust and trust policies within open internet and telco cloud contexts?
• RQ3 What holistic security architecture and governance are required for cloud/edge native 6G infrastructures?
• RQ4 How can privacy be preserved amid data-driven services, and what technologies (e.g., blockchain, differential privacy) offer viable solutions?
• RQ5 What regulatory, economic, and ethical factors influence trustworthy 6G deployment?

Key findings

• Trust needs embedded mechanisms and policies to enable higher information security in 6G.
• Security requires holistic architectures for cloud/edge native infrastructures and consideration of automation risks.
• Privacy challenges arise from linking and deidentification of datasets, with evolving legal and business implications.
• Potential solution avenues include blockchain, distributed ledger technologies, and differential privacy.