Security in the Era of Perceptive Networks: A Comprehensive Taxonomic Framework for Integrated Sensing and Communication Security

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive taxonomic framework for security in integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) systems, covering threats, vulnerabilities, defenses, and emerging issues to guide future research and policy.

Contribution

It synthesizes existing studies into a unified, multi-dimensional taxonomy that reveals relationships and gaps in ISAC security research, extending beyond prior perception-focused models.

Findings

Developed a detailed threat and vulnerability taxonomy.

Categorized defense mechanisms across deployment layers.

Identified key research gaps and emerging security challenges.

Abstract

Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) represents a significant shift in the 6G landscape, where wireless networks both sense the environment and communicate. While prior comprehensive surveys have established foundational elements of ISAC security, discussed perception-focused security models, and proposed layered defense strategies, this paper synthesizes these studies into a comprehensive taxonomic framework that covers the whole ISAC security domain. This paper provides a systematic and thorough review of ISAC security across multiple orthogonal dimensions. These include threat taxonomy and propagation methods; vulnerability analysis at design, physical, computational, and architectural levels; defense mechanisms categorized by deployment layer; security-performance trade-offs with theoretical bounds; sector-specific security demands for critical infrastructure; and emerging issues such as quantum resilience, AI-hardening, and privacy preservation. Unlike previous frameworks that primarily focus on vision, this review combines these dimensions, introduces new classification schemes that reveal hidden relationships between threats and defenses, and identifies key research gaps through structured analysis. This detailed taxonomy offers a valuable reference for researchers developing secure ISAC systems and policymakers establishing security standards.