5G ENSURE has received funding from the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation H2020 under grant agreement No 671562 | Duration November 2015 / October 2017
Submitted by s.parker on May 17, 2017
Security was a recurrent theme of the recent ETSI Summit on 5G Infrastructure that was highlighted in every session. While this considerable airtime is very positive and encouraging, several challenges lie ahead.
Major Takeaways on 5G Security
- "Cyber threats are increasing as hackers seek to get to the infrastructure. There is an urgency on security. There is a financial urgency on virtualisation", Sue Rudd, Strategy Analytics.
- "We are facing increased complexity. Data protection and privacy are big issues", Diego Lopez, Telefonica and ETSI ISG NFV.
- "Engagement with enterprise needs to be greatly improved so businesses can lead and drive the debate. The single most important point is protection against attacks. Where is the differentiator for security? How can vendors and operators differentiate with regard to security", Patrick Donegan, HardenStance.
Other questions raised:
- What can we learn about security from other areas such as cloud computing?
- Will companies be willing to move forward with security?
Time waits for no man
The work within 3GPP is happening now, hence it is getting late for new requirements. Stakeholders, also from the vertical industries, are therefore urged to go along and contribute now rather than later. We need to be realistic about the timings, looking at the long term and short-term deliverables. Time is always a challenge for standardisation.
However, a key question remains as to whether standards organisations are working together on commonly agreed problems. We need more collaboration across the entire network ecosystem, working across different standards organisations.
Where next? ETSI Security Week 2017
5G security is high on the agenda at ETSI Security Week, 12-16 June 2017 in Sophia Antipolis. Thursday 15 June is entirely dedicated to 5G Security with sessions covering research on 5G security, security standards, verticals and businesses with hot topics spanning IoT security, advances in lightweight cartography, slicing security and privacy. Friday 16 June is the 5G-ENSURE 2nd International Workshop: From Research to Standardisation. The Workshop aims to transfer the vision, concepts and enablers matured and released for 5G network and system security to be considered in on-going 5G security standardisation work.
ETSI Security Week 2017 | 2nd International Workshop: From Research to Standardisation | Open Consultation on 5G Security
