Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces: The New Frontier of Next G Security

TL;DR

This paper explores security vulnerabilities introduced by reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) in next-generation wireless systems, demonstrating how RIS can be exploited for malicious attacks and discussing potential security countermeasures.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of RIS-assisted attacks, analyzes a specific signal cancellation attack, and highlights security challenges and solutions for RIS-enabled wireless networks.

Findings

Effective RIS attacks require accurate channel info

Attacks are more successful with favorable RIS placement

RIS attacks disproportionately impact weak legitimate links

Abstract

RIS is one of the significant technological advancements that will mark next-generation wireless. RIS technology also opens up the possibility of new security threats, since the reflection of impinging signals can be used for malicious purposes. This article introduces the basic concept for a RIS-assisted attack that re-uses the legitimate signal towards a malicious objective. Specific attacks are identified from this base scenario, and the RIS-assisted signal cancellation attack is selected for evaluation as an attack that inherently exploits RIS capabilities. The key takeaway from the evaluation is that an effective attack requires accurate channel information, a RIS deployed in a favorable location (from the point of view of the attacker), and it disproportionately affects legitimate links that already suffer from reduced path loss. These observations motivate specific security solutions and recommendations for future work.