Significance and security risks of 5G technology – Council adopts conclusions

Today the Council adopted conclusions on the significance of 5G to the European economy and the need to mitigate security risks linked to 5G.

The conclusions stress that 5G networks will form a part of crucial infrastructure for the maintenance of vital societal and economic functions.

The conclusions also support the findings in the European 5G Risk Assessment published in October by the member states coordination group on network and information security.

The approach to 5G network security is to be comprehensive and risk-based. 5G security is seen as a continuous process, which starts with the selection of the vendors and lasts the whole way through the production of the network elements and the lifetime of the operation of the networks.

Non-technical factors should also be considered when a supplier’s risk profile is drawn up and components critical for national security should be sourced from trustworthy parties only.