Securing 5G: a trust model for data-driven, virtualized networks

Discover how to defend your virtualized 5G network from emerging threats and secure your path to innovation.

In today’s network landscape, cellular IoT devices reached approximately 4 billion by end-2024, poised to exceed 7 billion by 2030, driven by a steady ~11 % CAGR. This explosion of connected devices emphasizes the need for robust encryption, zero-trust architectures, and hardware-based root-of-trust measures like HSMs. Securing this complexity requires end-to-end strategies - from protecting data in motion and at rest, to managing identities and monitoring virtualization threats. 

Building trust in virtualized 5G networks: strategies for protecting identity, data and infrastructure

5G is transforming telecom networks into fast, flexible and software-driven platforms. This brings huge opportunities - massive IoT growth, private network slicing and ultra-low latency services - but also new and more complex security risks. Operators must rethink how they protect devices, data and infrastructure to keep trust in a virtualized environment.

5G security: from add-on to built-in 

With 3G and 4G, network functions largely ran on dedicated hardware, which naturally limited exposure to attacks. In 5G, things are different: the core is software-based, cloud-native and automated. This makes networks more flexible and scalable - but also more open to new risks. 

Virtualization and automation bring efficiency, but they also mean that a single weakness can have a much bigger impact than before. Recent findings in open-source 5G platforms confirm that vulnerabilities are real, not theoretical. 

That’s why the industry is shifting from treating security as an afterthought to making it a design principle. Emerging models such as Zero Trust - where every action in the network must be continuously verified - show how protection can be woven into the very fabric of 5G. 

Securing the IoT surge 

Cellular IoT is booming, growing from around 3 billion connections in 2023 to more than 7 billion expected by 2030. These connections span everything from sensors and meters to vehicles and industrial machines. 

This growth creates opportunity, but also a larger attack surface. Many IoT devices are designed to be low-cost and efficient, often with minimal built-in protection. Left unsecured, they can be hijacked for botnets, exploited for data theft, or used as entry points into wider networks. 

The challenge is twofold: protecting the devices themselves and securing the networks they connect to. As new 5G technologies like RedCap and advanced IoT services roll out, building security by design - not as an afterthought - becomes essential. 

Private networks and edge security 

One of 5G’s most powerful features is the ability to provide enterprises with their own private networks or dedicated slices, delivering tailored performance with speed, reliability and low latency. This opens the door to new industrial and business applications - but also shifts responsibility for security. 

Each slice or private network must be securely authenticated, strongly isolated and safeguarded from unauthorized access. The challenge grows as data is increasingly processed at the edge - outside the central core - where protection is harder to guarantee. 

For enterprises, this means building security into the design of private 5G deployments, not adding it later. The industry is already exploring advanced approaches such as AI-driven orchestration and policy-based protections to ensure that private 5G networks remain both agile and secure. 

Strengthening data and identity protection 

As 5G networks expand, protecting sensitive data and securing digital identities are at the core of trust. Three measures stand out: 

• Encrypt and tokenize data everywhere: Whether in transit across the network or stored at rest, data must be encrypted. Tokenization adds an extra layer of privacy by replacing sensitive values with non-sensitive tokens.
• Manage cryptographic keys securely: Strong key management - ideally with hardware-based protection - prevents breaches by ensuring keys cannot be intercepted or misused.
• Authenticate every user and device: The 5G SIM acts as a secure anchor for identity. Beyond traditional authentication, it now supports advanced features such as subscriber anonymity, secure algorithm updates and key rotation. 

These measures extend beyond consumer devices. In the IoT space, secure elements are increasingly embedded to authenticate billions of connected machines. Industry initiatives such as GSMA’s IoT SAFE are driving this adoption, providing a common framework for securing device identities and ensuring trust in machine-originated data. 

 Staying ahead of threats 

5G’s speed and flexibility come with expanded responsibilities. Even with strong defences, networks will face attacks. Continuous monitoring, vulnerability testing and rapid incident response are critical. By embedding security into every layer - devices, data and network - from day one, operators can enable innovation while maintaining trust. Conclusion 

In the 5G era, security is not an add-on - it is the operating principle that keeps innovation safe.