Research aspect: 5G security includes a number of aspects which require specific attention: 1) security orchestration and management (dealing with different security requirements, different operators, different technologies); 2) resilience against flash of network traffic (with potential abuse as DDos); 3) end-to-end security (network and application level) 4) consistency of subscriber level of protection 5) adaptive security (new technologies, new threats); 6) certification of 5G hardware and software.

Industrial demand:

• Industry will rely on 5G networks to share its sensitive data
• 5G providers will have to ensure a high level of protection for their customers and cooperate with other similar providers with different level of security.
• 5G providers will rely on (untrusted) 5G technology providers and would like to be assured that proper quality of protection is provided and the applied solution do not violate security requirements.

Social aspect: 5G will have huge impact on the life of the generic public. Clearly, personal data will be exchanged between users and industry and processed further. As with growing reliance of the public on IT services the demand for privacy raises, the pressure on communication providers to protect the data in transfer is increasing as well. Thus, security of the 5G technologies will have immense impact on the trust in IT technology in general.

Final goal: Although a number of issues should be solved, in order to ensure adequate protection for the new communication technology, the overall goal could be stated as to protect the data during its transmission via 5G networks.

Benefits for EU: Apart of direct benefit for the European industry in increasing the competitiveness of their 5G technological solutions, the following benefits should be also outlined. First of all, this will let the EU to be able to protect and control its data, ensuring that the basic rights of its citizens are guaranteed and the EU laws are enforced. Good knowledge of 5G security will also ensure that the technologies adapted by EU industry from external technology providers is genuine, free from possible backdoors and complies with EU standards and regulations. High level of security of 5G communication networks will also increase the trust of citizens and business in the IT technologies, as well as in the EU’s capability to protect its values.

Domain (JRC Taxonomy): Assurance, Audit, and Certification; Security Management and Governance; Network and Distributed Systems; Software and Hardware Security Engineering; Cryptology

Sector (JRC Taxonomy): Digital Infrastructure, Supply Chain.

Relation to emerging technologies: 5G network uses various cutting edge technologies for providing the most up-to-date and long lasting communication service. Thus, it employs Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, IoT technologies, as well as Software Defined Networks, Network Function Virtualization, Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output, etc. The usage of these cutting edge technologies results in a number of benefits for the new generation network, but also causes a number of problems for security because of increased attack surface, which may (and, most probably, will) expand in the future.