5G security – scenarios and solutions

5G systems are the next step in the evolution of mobile communication and will be a fundamental enabler for the Networked Society. This development creates new security scenarios and requires new security solutions.

Security services such as encryption for wide public usage were pioneered in GSM system design before evolving further in 3G and 4G. While these services have worked well in safeguarding trust in today’s vast communications ecosystem, 5G will drive completely new requirements.

5G security will be defined not only by quantitative aspects such as bitrates and latency, but more importantly by qualitative aspects such as new business and trust models, new ways of delivering services, an evolved threat landscape and an increased concern for privacy.

As a result, there is a need for a fundamentally new, multi-actor trust model that allows more flexibility. Security for virtualized networks and services should be considered. Attack-resistance and data security must represent basic design criteria for new protocols, while security assurance and compliance have to be more verifiable and measurable. Tackling these challenges will require new tools such as network slicing, trusted computing and alternative ways of handling user identities.

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