A European Vision for Innovative Approaches to 6G Security

As the telecom industry sets its sights on 6G, it is clear that security must be treated as a core design principle. The 6G-IA Security Working Group has taken a significant step in this direction with their white paper Innovative Approaches for 6G Security. This paper provides a comprehensive look at how Europe is addressing the next generation of security challenges through cutting-edge research and collaborative innovation.

The white paper explores the importance of trustworthiness, privacy and resilience in future network architectures. It reflects a clear understanding that 6G will need to support highly dynamic, decentralised and intelligent systems, spanning everything from cloud infrastructure and edge computing to connected devices and the physical layer itself. Security mechanisms must evolve to operate across these layers and contexts in a seamless and scalable way.

The report draws heavily from projects funded through the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking, which is the European framework supporting research in 6G and beyond. These projects have been grouped into four thematic clusters, each addressing specific areas of the 6G security landscape.

The first cluster focuses on innovative security frameworks. Projects such as DESIRE-6G and iTrust6G are developing AI-based architectures capable of continuous trust assessment and adaptive orchestration. These aim to realise a zero trust security approach that adjusts in real time. SAFE-6G is developing a comprehensive framework that treats safety, security, privacy, resilience and reliability as inseparable elements.

The second research pillar is centred around decentralised and adaptive solutions. The RIGOROUS project is designing architectures that support decentralised security and seamless integration across the continuum of cloud, edge and IoT. PRIVATEER is pioneering privacy-first mechanisms, including secure orchestration and decentralised analytics, supported by proof-of-transit technologies.

The third pillar highlights advanced technologies for future-ready networks. NATWORK is addressing threats such as jamming and eavesdropping at the physical layer using AI to optimise security in MIMO and reconfigurable intelligent surface scenarios. Hexa-X-II, the flagship 6G initiative in Europe, is working on new controls for security, privacy and resilience, including post-quantum cryptography and federated learning techniques for anomaly detection.

The final pillar looks at scalable and zero-touch approaches. The ACROSS project is creating a zero-touch provisioning framework that includes remote attestation and Network Digital Twins for training, testing and validating AI models. Meanwhile, 6G-BRICKS is developing solutions based on Software-Defined Perimeters and Zero Trust Architectures to manage security across evolving service environments.

Each of these initiatives is helping to close the gaps in the current security landscape as the industry transitions from beyond-5G to 6G. Key challenges being addressed include establishing cross-domain trust, managing dynamic service topologies, and enabling holistic and continuous trust evaluation across all layers of the network.

The collective ambition behind these projects is to lay the foundation for a secure, resilient and user-focused 6G ecosystem. Rather than building on existing frameworks alone, this work aims to rethink how networks are secured from the ground up. The white paper shows that Europe is not only anticipating the future of cyber threats but actively preparing to meet them with intelligent, decentralised and adaptive solutions that reflect the complexity of 6G.

The whitepaper is available here.

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