Security Capabilities are a Critical Element to 5G Success

By AIT News Desk On Dec 8, 2021

New 5G Americas technical paper highlights progress on security features in 5G networks

5G networks based on standard technical specifications from the Third Generation Partnership Project (“3GPP”) continue to be the most widely adopted and secure wireless cellular technology in existence. Today, 5G Americas, the voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas announced the publication of a new white paper entitled ‘Security for 5G’ which details features and recommendations for securing 5G networks and provides an update on the security enhancements introduced by 3GPP in Releases 15 and 16.

PREDICTIONS-SERIES-2022 Chris Pearson, President of 5G Americas, said, “The increased speeds and lower latency of 5G networks are beginning to impact nearly every facet of life for consumers and enterprises. Fortunately, security has been the built into 5G right from its inception and has been required throughout its development, planning and deployment.”

As increased bandwidth, higher data rates, and a surge of new devices and connections have made managing network security more complex, 5G Americas has provided nearly annual updates around the topic of security in wireless cellular networks. ‘Security for 5G’ is the latest update, building on prior work and focuses on evolving 5G security considerations.

This white paper addresses emerging challenges and opportunities, making recommendations for securing 5G networks in the context of the evolution to cloud-based and distributed networks:

3GPP security enhancements in 5G
5G security considerations
Zero-trust networks
3GPP Release 16 security enhancements
Security for 5G vertical segments, such as transportation, manufacturing, and critical infrastructure
Supply chain security
Open RAN security

Additionally, the white paper provides insight into securing 5G in private, public, and hybrid cloud deployment models. Topics such as orchestration, automation, cloud-native security, and application programming interface (API) security are addressed. The transition from perimeter-based security to a zero-trust architecture to protect assets and data from external and internal threats is also discussed.

Pramod Nair, Technical Solutions Architect – Security, Cisco and 5G Americas group co-leader on the paper commented, “5G will allow operators to evolve toward new business models. For 5G to achieve its potential, organizations must embrace multi-layered security that goes far beyond 3GPP specifications by using a pragmatic, multi-layered approach. End-to-End Security should cater to RAN, SDN, MEC, and hybrid, multi-cloud deployments based on a cloud native architecture, secure CI/CD, and zero trust security for 5G.”

Scott Poretsky, Director of Security, North America, Network Product Solutions at Ericsson and 5G Americas group co-leader further added, “5G continues to integrate with other key technology enablers. In the cloud’s multi-stakeholder environment, cloud-native function software vendors, platform vendors, mobile network operators, hyperscale cloud providers, and system integrators must collaborate to clearly define requirements, roles and responsibilities for implementing security architecture and controls.”