Wireless communication systems play a very crucial role in modern society for entertainment, business, commercial, health and safety applications. These systems keep evolving from one generation to next generation and currently we are seeing deployment of fifth generation (5G) wireless systems around the world. Academics and industries are already discussing beyond 5G wireless systems which will be sixth generation (6G) of the evolution. One of the main and key components of 6G systems will be the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for such wireless networks. Every component and building block of a wireless system that we currently are familiar with from our knowledge of wireless technologies up to 5G, such as physical, network and application layers, will involve one or another AI/ML techniques. This overview paper, presents an up-to-date review of future wireless system concepts such as 6G and role of ML techniques in these future wireless systems. In particular, we present a conceptual model for 6G and show the use and role of ML techniques in each layer of the model. We review some classical and contemporary ML techniques such as supervised and un-supervised learning, Reinforcement Learning (RL), Deep Learning (DL) and Federated Learning (FL) in the context of wireless communication systems. We conclude the paper with some future applications and research challenges in the area of ML and AI for 6G networks.

The growth in the use of small sensor devices, commonly known as the Internet of Things (IoT), has resulted in unprecedented amounts of data being generated and captured. With the rapidly growing popularity of personal IoT devices, the collection of personal data through such devices has also increased exponentially. To accommodate the anticipated growth in connected devices, researchers are now investigating futuristic network technologies that are capable of processing large volumes of information at much faster speeds. However, the introduction of innovative network technologies coupled with existing vulnerabilities of personal IoT devices and insufficient device security standards is resulting in new challenges for the security of data collected on these devices. While existing research has focused on the technical aspects of security vulnerabilities and solutions in either network or IoT technologies separately, this paper thoroughly investigates common aspects impacting IoT security on existing and futuristic networks, including human-centric issues and the mechanisms that can lead to loss of confidentiality. By undertaking a comprehensive literature review of existing research, this article has identified five key areas that impact IoT security for futuristic next generation networks. Furthermore, by extensively analysing each area, the article reports on conclusive findings and future research opportunities for IoT privacy and security for the next generation of network technologies .

Smart Home automation is increasingly gaining popularity among current applications of Internet of Things (IoT) due to the convenience and facilities it provides to the home owners. Sensors are employed within the home appliances via wireless connectivity to be accessible remotely by home owners to operate these devices. With the exponential increase of smart home IoT devices in the marketplace such as door locks, light bulbs, power switches etc, numerous security concerns are arising due to limited storage and processing power of such devices, making these devices vulnerable to several attacks. Due to this reason, security implementations in the deployment of these devices has gained popularity among researchers as a critical research area. Moreover, the adoption of traditional security schemes has failed to address the unique security concerns associated with these devices. Blockchain, a decentralised database based on cryptographic techniques, is gaining enormous attention to assure security of IoT systems. The blockchain framework within an IoT system is a fascinating substitute to the traditional centralised models, which has some significant concerns in fulfilling the demand of smart homes security. In this article, we aim to examine the security of smart homes by instigating the adoption of blockchain and exploring some of the currently proposed smart home architectures using blockchain technology. To present our findings, we describe a simple secure smart home framework based on a refined version of blockchain called Consortium blockchain. We highlight the limitations and opportunities of adopting such an architecture. We further evaluate our model and conclude with the results by designing an experimental testbed using a few household IoT devices commonly available in the marketplace.

Ransomware attacks are on the rise in terms of both frequency and impact. The shift to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led more people to work online, prompting companies to adapt quickly. Unfortunately, this increased online activity has provided cybercriminals numerous opportunities to carry out devastating attacks. One recent method employed by malicious actors involves infecting corporate networks with ransomware to extract millions of dollars in profits. Ransomware falls into the category of malware. It works by encrypting sensitive data and demanding payments from victims to receive the encryption keys necessary for decrypting their data. The prevalence of this type of attack has prompted governments and organisations worldwide to intensify their efforts to combat ransomware. In response, the research community has also focused on ransomware detection, leveraging technologies such as machine learning. Despite this increased attention, practical solutions for real-world applications remain scarce in the existing literature. Numerous surveys have explored literature within the domain. Still, there is a notable lack of emphasis on the design of ransomware detection systems and the practical aspects of detection, including real-time and early detection. Against this backdrop, our review delves into the existing literature on ransomware detection, specifically examining the machine-learning techniques, detection approaches, and designs employed. Finally, we highlight the limitations of prior studies and propose future research directions in this crucial area.

There has been an enormous increase in information flow and communication data due to the rapid rise in the number of Internet of Everything (IoE) devices and the development of cutting-edge technologies such as the rollout of the Sixth Generation (6G) network. The rising and inevitable off-loading requirements of IoE devices have resulted in an unprecedented increase in the reliance on edge and cloud paradigms. However, such a reliance on far-end technologies to access already scarce resources can often result in increased latency and unstable connection issues due to limited bandwidth. In this paper, we investigate the solution for such a stringent network design by presenting a conceptual cloud architecture based on key components such as resource allocation, scheduling and task off-loading for IoE devices. The IoE devices utilise a scheduler to access resources from nearby higher resourced IoE devices for their task computation, where the scheduler allocates incoming requests according to the availability of resources within a cluster of devices or to other devices in nearby clusters. Motivated by these design characteristics, we propose a design of a novel Main Task Off-loading Scheduling Algorithm (MTOSA) for efficient task allocation and dissemination. We present a theoretical analysis of five different scheduling policies namely Round Robin (RR), Strongest Channel (SC), Max Rate (MR), Proportional Fair (PF) and Priority Base (PB) scheduling to find an optimal technique for task off-loading in futuristic networks. Furthermore, we compare the performance of these five scheduling policies with the two existing scheduling policies from the literature. It is shown through various experiments that the proposed MTOSA algorithm performs better when compared with the existing schemes for different performance parameters.

Network forensics is commonly used to identify and analyse evidence of any illegal or unauthorised activity in a given network. The collected information can be used for preventive measures against potential cyber attacks and serve as evidence acceptable in legal proceedings. Several conventional tools and techniques are available to identify and collect such pieces of evidence; however, most of them require expensive commercial resources, longer investigation times, and costly human expertise. Due to modern networks’ diverse and heterogeneous nature, forensic operations through conventional means become a cumbersome and challenging process. This calls for a new look at how network forensics is approached, considering contemporary approaches to network analysis. In this work, we explore artificial intelligence (AI) techniques based on contemporary machine learning (ML) algorithms such as deep learning (DL) to conduct network forensics. We also propose an investigation model based on AI/ML techniques that can analyse network traffic and behavioural patterns to identify any prior or potential cyber attacks. The proposed AI-based network forensics model speeds up the investigation process, boosting network monitoring without human intervention. This also aims to provide timely and accurate information to network administrators for quick and effective decisions, enabling them to avoid and circumvent future cyber attacks.