A Comprehensive Review of Security Challenges and Physical Layer Security in 6G Wireless Networks

Abstract

This survey reviews the evolution of mobile network security from 1G to 6G, with a particular focus on the security challenges, requirements, and enabling technologies of sixth-generation wireless networks. It highlights the limitations of existing 5G security mechanisms in supporting emerging 6G applications, including the Internet of Everything (IoE), artificial intelligence (AI), edge computing, network slicing, and non-terrestrial networks. The study examines security threats associated with new technologies and discusses key requirements such as zero-trust architecture, privacy preservation, virtualization security, post-quantum cryptography, and AI-driven protection mechanisms. It also summarizes recent research on Physical Layer Security (PLS), reinforcement learning, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS), and machine learning-based security frameworks for secure 6G communication. Finally, the survey identifies major research gaps and outlines future directions for developing intelligent, adaptive, and resilient security solutions for next-generation wireless networks.