Towards Privacy-First Security Enablers for 6G Networks: The PRIVATEER Approach

Abstract

The advent of 6G networks is anticipated to introduce a myriad of new technology enablers, including heterogeneous radio, RAN softwarization, multi-vendor deployments, and AI-driven network management, which is expected to broaden the existing threat landscape, demanding for more sophisticated security controls. At the same time, privacy forms a fundamental pillar in the EU development activities for 6G. This decentralized and globally connected environment necessitates robust privacy provisions that encompass all layers of the network stack.

In this paper, we present PRIVATEER’s approach for enabling “privacy-first” security enablers for 6G networks. PRIVATEER aims to tackle four major privacy challenges associated with 6G security enablers, i.e., i) processing of infrastructure and network usage data, ii) security-aware orchestration, iii) infrastructure and service attestation and iv) cyber threat intelligence sharing. PRIVATEER addresses the above by introducing several innovations, including decentralised robust security analytics, privacy-aware techniques for network slicing and service orchestration and distributed infrastructure and service attestation mechanisms.