5G Security Considerations & Policy Options

Courtney Lang | Senior Director of Policy

Promoting Innovation Worldwide

ITI Member Companies
Context: The Shift to 5G
• 5G will have an enormous economic impact
globally.
• 5G will bring new equipment and software, and
spectrum – such as small cells, software-defined
networks, and very high frequency spectrum.
• Although 5G can build off of existing
infrastructure, it is not only an incremental
improvement over previous network technology.
It is a fundamental shift away from traditional
legacy telecom networks to an information-
technology based infrastructure.

Promoting Innovation Worldwide

Context: 5G Security
• Countries around the world are taking steps to deploy 5G networks and reap the
benefits that this transformational next generation of network technology will
enable
• Concerns about securing those networks have increased, in part because 5G
networks are undoubtedly critical infrastructure but also because countries around
the world have recognized the immense economic impact that 5G will bring
• Geopolitical tensions have also increased as adversaries become more
sophisticated in their attacks
• Governments have started to craft policy aimed at securing 5G networks
Ø Policies are often narrowly scoped to focus solely on supply chain actors and
equipment

Promoting Innovation Worldwide

Threats
MALICIOUS
ACTORS /
NEFARIOUS
ACTIVITY
MALFUNCTIONS
LEGAL

PHYSICAL
5GTHREAT NATURAL
DISASTER
ATTACK
LANDSCAPE

OUTAGES
Promoting Innovation Worldwide
ESPIONAGE
Policy Examples
• Efforts to foster supplier diversity
Ø Promotion of Open RAN

• Certification requirements
• ENISA Candidate 5G Certification Scheme
• ANATEL Act No. 77
• GSI Normative Instruction No. 4

• Regional tools
Ø EU 5G Security toolbox
Ø Prague Proposals

Promoting Innovation Worldwide

Industry Efforts to Secure 5G
• Investing time and resources into developing cybersecurity technologies and
services to secure 5G networks and the applications and services running over
them
• Helping to educate business leaders on the importance of cybersecurity
investments
• Sharing operational threat information on threats transversing mobile networks
so that relevant parties can take action
• Participating in the development of relevant global 5G security standards and
reference documents
Ø Networks, including standards, are being designed with security in mind from
the outset
• Collaborating with government via public-private partnerships

Promoting Innovation Worldwide

ITI’s 5G Policy Principles for Global Policymakers
• We released a set of 5G Policy Principles for Global Policymakers in June
2020 focused on promoting the development and deployment of 5G
technology worldwide
• We encourage policymakers to focus their efforts on four key areas:
ü Innovation and Investment
ü Deployment & Access to spectrum
ü Security
ü Standards
• Taking an approach that considers all four of these areas will help
governments maximize benefits of 5G and spur innovation, while also
addressing challenges that may arise

Promoting Innovation Worldwide

5G Security Policy Recommendations
Ø 5G-security policies should be risk-based
Ø Focus on threats to the 5G ecosystem beyond those associated with
supply chain actors and equipment
Ø Develop and maintain robust public-private partnerships
Ø Develop and leverage the concept of a trusted supplier
Ø Promote and adopt state-of-art security tools
Ø Support industry-driven, consensus-based standards
Ø Consider the role of Open RAN

Promoting Innovation Worldwide