Security Analysis of 5G and MEC
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URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Sähkötekniikan korkeakoulu |
Master's thesis
Authors
Date
2023-10-09
Department
Major/Subject
Technology and Engineering
Mcode
ELEC3067
Degree programme
Master’s Programme in Communications and Data Science
Language
en
Pages
48 + 15
Series
Abstract
The fifth generation (5G) has emerged in mobile telecommunications landscape as the most advanced cellular networks. 5G, coupled with the rise of Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC), promises revolutionary advancements across industries with its high-speed, ultra-low latency connectivity and variety of use cases. MEC complements this advancement by pushing computational capabilities closer to the network edge. However, as any technological revolution, 5G and MEC bring their set of security and privacy challenges. This research investigates security vulnerabilities in 5G and MEC in location services that affect user’s privacy. 5G with MEC integration expand attack surfaces making the network more susceptible to novel threats. With analysis of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) from the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards, inspection of specifications and attack scenarios illustration, this study demonstrates a potential insider threat case of location tracking of users. Assumptions were made to demonstrate the feasibility of such an attack scenario and how it is profitable to Third parties. Furthermore, several similarities are found in other APIs exposed by the 5G core network to external entities but left for further research. As the convergence of the technologies involves interactions from multiple vendors, there is a necessity to define security and privacy policies to prevent unauthorized access to critical resources and protect sensitive information. Therefore, in our attempt to solve the found issues, countermeasures are proposed as ways to safeguard 5G and MEC networks.Description
Supervisor
Mähönen, PetriThesis advisor
Duda, AndrezjHoltmanns, Silke
Keywords
5G, MEC, security, privacy, API, 3GPP