CS&E Colloquium: NextG Wireless Security: A Convergence of Sensing and AI

The computer science colloquium takes place on Mondays from 11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. This week's speaker, Yanchao Zhang (Arizona State University), will be giving a talk titled "NextG Wireless Security: A Convergence of Sensing and AI."

Abstract

NextG (6G and beyond) wireless networks will seamlessly integrate sensing and AI, revolutionizing network security through real-time situational awareness, adaptive intelligence, and proactive defense mechanisms. This convergence enables context-aware security by integrating AI-driven data analytics with wireless sensing to detect, analyze, and mitigate cyber threats in real time. In this talk, I will first present a vision for the key security applications enabled by AI-sensing integration in NextG wireless systems. I will then introduce two AI-driven sensing-based security mechanisms. The first, GNN-SML, is an innovative RF-sensing-based framework that accurately and simultaneously localizes multiple wireless spectrum misusers. It employs location-centric, RF sensor-agnostic Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) with inductive learning capabilities to enhance spectrum monitoring and misuser detection. The second, WaveKey, is a cross-modal deep learning-based approach for secure and efficient key establishment in mobile ad hoc environments. WaveKey leverages a random user gesture to induce correlated IMU motion sensor data and RFID signals, extracts the complex cross-modal correlation using deep learning, and implements an Oblivious Transfer-based key agreement protocol for secure in-situ access. I will conclude by discussing open challenges and future directions in AI-sensing-driven NextG wireless security, highlighting key research opportunities at the intersection of wireless sensing, AI, and cybersecurity.

Biography

Yanchao Zhang received his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Florida in 2006. He is currently a Full Professor in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering at Arizona State University. His research focuses on fundamental and experimental investigations of security and privacy in networked systems, with an emphasis on future-generation wireless and sensing systems, trustworthy wireless AI, dynamic spectrum access, autonomous and unmanned systems, immersive technologies, and their applications in critical domains. He received the NSF CAREER Award in 2009 and was elevated to IEEE Fellow in 2019 for his contributions to wireless and mobile security. He has held key leadership roles in the research community, including serving as TPC Co-Chair for IEEE INFOCOM 2023 and organizing multiple workshops for the National Science Foundation and the Army Research Office. He currently serves as Principal Investigator and Director of the DoD Center of Excellence in Future Generation Wireless Technology, a $10 million research initiative hosted at ASU that advances cutting-edge trustworthy wireless solutions for defense and critical infrastructure applications.