Proceedings of the first ACM conference on Wireless network security

Abstract

It is an honor and pleasure to welcome you to the first ACM Wireless Networks Security Conference. I hope that you will find the technical program stimulating, that our meeting venue will facilitate useful discussions, and that this conference will lead to fruitful collaborations in the future. During the past decade, it became increasingly clear to most researchers in our field that wireless communication technology would pose significant and unique security challenges. Wireless networks represent the underlying technology of what we now call ubiquitous computing. These networks are frequently deployed in environments that are vulnerable to previously unanticipated forms of adversarial attacks. Indeed, several types of wireless networks include components that operate in an unattended manner in potentially hostile settings. This fact and the typical resource constraints that many wireless networks experience has triggered a reassessment of the adversaries' capabilities and modes of attack. New security problems have arisen and along have come new opportunities for fertile research and development. Many of these opportunities are reflected in the program of this conference. This first WiSec conference is the result of discussions among several researchers who have been active participants in workshops on wireless, mobile, and ad hoc networks for the past few years. In mid' 2006 it became apparent that the three main workshops focusing on security of mobile ad-hoc and sensor networks, namely ACM Wireless Security Workshop (Wise), held in conjunction with ACM Mobicom, ACM Workshop Security in Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks (SASN), held in conjunction with ACM CCS, and the European Workshop on Security and Privacy in Ad hoc and Sensor Networks (ESAS), have outgrown their initial scope. Several members of what later became the Steering Committee of WiSec felt that bringing together participants who traditionally attended these workshops would help consolidate the previously separate efforts in areas of common interest. The Steering Committee agreed that WiSec would alternate holding its technical meetings between the US and Europe, at least for the near future. Of course, we hope that increasing participation from Asia will enable us to extend our meeting venues to include Asia as well.