Visible to the public PHY-layer Security is No Alternative to Cryptography

TitlePHY-layer Security is No Alternative to Cryptography
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsRobyns, Pieter, Quax, Peter, Lamotte, Wim
Conference NameProceedings of the 10th ACM Conference on Security and Privacy in Wireless and Mobile Networks
Date PublishedJuly 2017
PublisherACM
Conference LocationNew York, NY, USA
ISBN Number978-1-4503-5084-6
KeywordsCollaboration, composability, Cross Layer Security, cryptography, Human Behavior, human factor, information theoretic security, Metrics, opinion, PHY-layer security, policy, pubcrawl, Resiliency, Scalability, theoretical cryptography
Abstract

In recent works, numerous physical-layer security systems have been proposed as alternatives to classic cryptography. Such systems aim to use the intrinsic properties of radio signals and the wireless medium to provide confidentiality and authentication to wireless devices. However, fundamental vulnerabilities are often discovered in these systems shortly after their inception. We therefore challenge the assumptions made by existing physical-layer security systems, and postulate that weaker assumptions are needed in order to adapt for practical scenarios. We also argue that if no computational advantage over an adversary can be ensured, secure communication cannot be realistically achieved.

URLhttps://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3098243.3098271
DOI10.1145/3098243.3098271
Citation Keyrobyns_phy-layer_2017