HEaaS: Securing Cyber Physical Systems in NextG Using Homomorphic Encryption

HEaaS: Securing Cyber Physical Systems in NextG Using Homomorphic Encryption

Principal Investigator: Bo Han, associate professor, computer science, George Mason University

Co-Principal Investigator: Songqing Chen, professor, computer science, George Mason University

Project Description:

Combining speed with artificial intelligence (AI), NextG networks promise to transform precision agriculture, telehealth, smart cities and more. These advancements could bring a broad range of new security attacks on networks that connect intelligent devices, exposing security and privacy concerns.

In this project, researchers plan to use homomorphic encryption, which allows data to stay encrypted even while going to the cloud or other environments, to protect sensitive user data in the NextG world. By enabling operations on encrypted data, without having to decrypt the data first, homomorphic encryption is being regarded as one of the key enablers for 5G and 6G systems to secure computation and preserve privacy. The research team plans to study medical CPS systems, which must be secure to protect private information. The project also may use deep learning and immersive technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality to explore how best to design attack-resilient and privacy-preserving approaches for medical CPS systems using NextG networks.