Is Wireless Channel Dependable for Security Provisioning?

无线系统和网络安全的最新进展利用无线信道特性，也称为链路签名，为无处不在的无线应用提供增强的，有时是唯一可用的安全解决方案;两个突出的例子是基于链路签名的密钥生成和物理层认证。然而，目前的链接签名研究对攻击者的推理能力做出了错误的假设，这将使合法系统在几乎没有意识的情况下面临严重的威胁。目的： 该项目的目标是寻求对无线信道特性的对抗性推断的限制的基本理解，并为无线通信开发更强大的基于链路签名的安全机制。各种分析信道相关性模型，涉及重要的物理传播因素在典型的无线环境中进行调查，有效的推理算法和实际设计将探索从对手的位置，以确定现有的无线安全机制的脆弱性。然后，将考虑两种方法来进一步加强当前的无线安全解决方案：一种是利用多天线和协作通信技术来破坏对抗性推理过程，另一种是将加密技术集成到链路签名结构中，以实现改进和有保证的保护。 知识产权的优点是纠正了广泛传播的误解的链接签名的安全性，并建立了一个行之有效的科学基础，促进新的无线安全机制的发展。更广泛的影响： 更广泛的影响是显著提高当前和新兴无线设备和系统的安全性，跨学科教育以及对未来IT劳动力的全面培训。

Recent progress in wireless system and network security exploits wireless channel characteristics, also known as link signatures, to offer enhanced and sometimes the only available security solutions for ubiquitous wireless applications; two prominent examples are link-signature based secret key generation and physical layer authentication. However, it is found that the current link-signature study makes wrong assumptions about the adversary's inference capability, which will expose the legitimate systems to severe threats with little awareness.Objective: The objective of this project is to seek a fundamental understanding of the limits in adversarial inference of wireless channel characteristics, and develop stronger link-signature based security mechanisms for wireless communications. Various analytical channel correlation models involving important physical propagation factors in typical wireless environments will be investigated, and effective inference algorithms and practical designs will be explored from the adversary's position, to determine the vulnerability of existing wireless security mechanisms. Then, two approaches will be considered to further strengthen the current wireless security solutions: one is to exploit multiple-antenna and cooperative communication techniques to disrupt the adversarial inference process, and the other is to integrate cryptographic techniques into link-signature constructions to achieve improved and guaranteed protection.Intellectual merit: The intellectual merit is correction of a wide-spread misconception about the link-signature security, and establishment of a proven scientific foundation facilitating the development of new wireless security mechanisms. Broader impacts: The broader impacts are significantly improvement in the security of current and emerging wireless devices and systems, cross-disciplinary education, and well-rounded training of future IT workforce.