NSF Workshop on Next-G Security

Though, there is an incredible excitement among various stakeholders in embracing the next generation of mobile networking, securing the 5G and the future Next-G networks are non-trivial. Next-G networks are vulnerable to both small-scale criminal attacks as well as massive state-sponsored cyber-espionage and cyber-attacks.

Securing Next-G networks calls for a more interdisciplinary approach. More specifically, it requires expertise in areas ranging from physical to application layer security, cryptography, analytics, systems, formal methods, etc. To this end, this workshop will bring together wireless communications, networked systems, and security experts to generate a research agenda that will produce new knowledge on securing the next generation of mobile networking. More specifically, the goal of this workshop is to coordinate and synthesize ongoing research in the fields of network security (physical layer, application layer, etc.), software-defined networking, network function virtualization, applied cryptography, formal methods, etc. to produce new lines of inquiry, targeted for securing the Next-G mobile networks.

The goals of this workshop include:

  • Collect and share community feedback on important research topics related to Next-G security.
  • Identify the research gaps and directions for future research in Next-G networks.
  • Educate the community on the existing systems, testbeds, tools, and data one can use to pursue research in this area.
  • Provide the platform for industry leaders to discuss open research problems and identify collaboration opportunities.
  • Share the final report as well as the video recordings, scribes' notes, and slides from the workshop to the broader wireless communications, networked systems, and security communities.

Important Dates

  • Workshop: 15-16 October, 2020
  • Submission Deadline: 15 September, 2020

Workshop Chairs

Advisory Committee

Call For Participation

We solicit one-page white papers for researchers who wish to participate in the workshop. Each submission should provide the following information:

  • Research direction(s)/topic(s), related to 5G or Next-G networks, that the attendee considers important to pursue. Please explain what research gaps will be addressed by the proposed research.
  • Attendee’s research interest, background, and expertise, as well as preferences for breakout sessions. Note: we will update the list of potential breakout sessions over the website soon.
  • Intention to attend the workshop for the entire 1.5-day duration, which includes active participation in discussion panels and breakout sessions.
  • (Optional) Links to sites that may be of interest to attendees for sharing (code/datasets/tools/platforms)

The white papers will be reviewed based on the relevance, importance of the proposed topic to the workshop as well as the diversity it offers in terms of the problem, proposed solution, and evaluation approach. We will give priority to applicants who plan to attend the workshop for the entire workshop duration (day and a half).

The topics that we plan to cover in this workshop can be broadly divided into four categories:

  • Physical layer security: It covers topics such as spectrum forensics, intentional interferences (e.g., jamming), denial of spectrum access, usage of higher carrier frequencies, or beam formation/alignment to enhance physical-layer security.
  • Infrastructure security: It covers problems related to securing the infrastructure supporting the Next-G networks. The topics include (but are not limited to) zero-trust security, open and programmable platforms for 5G or Next-G networks, security issues in software-defined networking, network function virtualization, streaming analytics, accelerating end-2-end encryption, etc.
  • Validation and verification: It covers topics such as which dataset or testbed researchers can use to develop and test algorithms/software developed for securing the Next-G networks. It not only includes which dataset/testbed to use but also how to use them.
  • Data privacy: It covers problems related to minimizing the leakage of privacy-sensitive information. The topics include (but are not limited to) privacy issues related to spectrum sharing, side-channel attacks, RF-fingerprinting, software-defined RAN, multi-tenant clouds, etc.
Note: We are no longer accepting the white papers.