Western governments propose 6G security principles

According to The Register, a coalition of Western governments has introduced a set of security and resilience principles for future 6G mobile networks. This initiative aims to embed robust supply chain controls and cybersecurity safeguards into the technology before its standards are finalized.

The Global Coalition on Telecoms, including the US, UK, Canada, Japan, Australia, Sweden, and Finland, unveiled these principles at Mobile World Congress. They argue that 6G's deep integration into the economy necessitates a proactive security approach, moving beyond 4G and 5G models. The coalition highlights increased attack surfaces due to disaggregated architectures, software layers, AI functions, and integrated sensing. They are calling for enhanced authentication, data integrity and confidentiality controls, and breach containment designs. Early consideration of quantum-resistant cryptography is also a key recommendation, anticipating future encryption vulnerabilities.

This effort mirrors the governments' experience during the 5G era, where they scrambled to address dependencies on high-risk vendors. By engaging early in the 6G standardization process, they aim to influence technical standards and vendor behavior before commercial entrenchment. While industry players have offered broad support, the principles are currently non-binding. The coalition relies on coordinated messaging to influence standards bodies and roadmaps, recognizing that influencing 6G during its research phase is more feasible than retrofitting existing networks.

Source: The Register