Strategic security technologies for future mobile networks
- Reference number
- SM20-0044
- Start and end dates
- 210301-241231
- Amount granted
- 1 081 125 SEK
- Administrative organization
- KTH - Royal Institute of Technology
- Research area
- Information, Communication and Systems Technology
Summary
The project will concretely advance strategic technologies for securing future mobile systems. The ambition is to set solid synergistic foundations and articulate a strategic agenda, to strengthen the Swedish position in cybersecurity European initiatives and add value to the entire SSF cybersecurity program. The two key axes are: (1) Resilient, scalable credential management for future mobile systems, (2) Secure, adaptive and highly reliable future networking infrastructures. Beyond impactful short- and mid-term outcomes (selective publications, patents, standardization) and outreach, we will work on a strategic agenda for intensifying real-world impact. Prof. Papadimitratos will work for approx. nine person months, at a 50% rate, with the Kista Ericsson Research team on cybersecurity. He will be employed by KTH (100%) while visiting Ericsson. The project brings together (i) an internationally leading researcher (IEEE Fellow, Fellow of the Young Academy of Europe) spearheading top-notch activities (research projects and coordination, conferences) and (ii) a world-leading provider of technology and services, with research teams that have shaped the landscape for the emerging generations of network infrastructures and systems. This is highly timely, with appropriately chosen technical foci. This will be the foundation for a growing into the future KTH-Ericsson collaboration of cybersecurity and privacy, to benefit the Swedish industry, public sector, and society.
Popular science description
A revolution has been materialising: Mobile devices with wireless capabilities have been appearing at an accelerated pace and they are essentially expected to be everywhere. The advent of the next, fifth and sixth, generations of wireless mobile communications promises higher communication rates and ubiquitous connectivity. These pave the way for ubiquitous medical services, smart energy production and distribution; automated logistics chains, adaptable buildings; more effective tactical operations; more efficient and safer transportation. We have every reason to embrace those and make our lives and businesses easier. The question is how? What stands in the way? Simply put: what do we have to lose if we don’t do this right? What if hackers targeted these mobile networked systems, especially when they become inseparable from our everyday activities? Critical processes would come to halt; individuals would be hurt; properties would be damaged. What if the smart environments leaked information to malevolent parties? Confidentiality would be lost; privacy would be harmed; surveillance and even oppression could be made easy. This is a multifaceted challenge and lots of research is being dedicated to address it and come up with solutions. But where do we start from? How do we make a decisive step towards real-world deployment of trustworthy mobile networked systems? This is exactly what this project wishes to achieve: we pick two key directions, two strategic technologies: (a) the foundation of any security solutions, the identity and credential management, and (b) the security and resilience of the networking infrastructure. With these as corner stones, working not only on top-notch research publications and projects, but also on demonstrators, standardization, and how to integrate results into future products and future engineers’ education, we aspire to: benefit a key industrial stakeholder and a leading Swedish technical university, and by doing that, accelerate progress in cybersecurity and privacy, bringing fast research and technology adoption much closer, to benefit Swedish industry, public sector and society.