Best Paper Award at IEEE CNS 2025

Best Paper Award at IEEE CNS 2025

Madhusanka Liyanage from University College Dublin (UCD), together with colleagues from the Network Softwarization and Security Labs (NetsLab), received the Best Paper Award at the IEEE Conference on Communications and Network Security (CNS 2025), held in Avignon, France.

IEEE CNS is the flagship conference of the IEEE Communications Society dedicated to cybersecurity and network security research. The event brings together academic researchers, industry practitioners, and standardisation experts to discuss advances that are shaping the security of current and future communication infrastructures.

Awarded Paper

The paper, entitled: “Securing xApps in Open RAN: A Hierarchical Approach to Authentication and Authorisation” was authored by Pramitha Fernando, Pawani Porambage, Madhusanka Liyanage, Kris Steenhaut, and An Braeken.

The work addresses pressing security challenges in Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN), a flexible and modular approach to deploying 5G and 6G networks. Open RAN introduces xApps—software applications that run on the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) to provide network optimization and control. While xApps improve efficiency and programmability, they also introduce new security risks.

The research proposes a hierarchical model for authentication and authorisation of xApps. The model establishes layered trust relationships and security checks that go beyond standard approaches, ensuring that only legitimate applications can access network resources and that their behaviour remains accountable. This framework strengthens the overall security posture of Open RAN while supporting scalability and interoperability in future 6G deployments.

The paper contributes directly to the objectives of the CONFIDENTIAL6G project, which aims to design and validate privacy-preserving and secure mechanisms for 6G networks. By focusing on the integration of strong authentication and authorisation frameworks in emerging architectures like Open RAN, this research aligns with the project’s efforts to ensure confidentiality, resilience, and trust in next-generation communication systems.

Collaborative Effort

This achievement was made possible through collaboration across multiple initiatives, including ENSURE-6G, BEiNG-WISE, CONFIDENTIAL6G, and the SFI Research Ireland CONNECT Centre. The joint effort highlights the importance of European and Irish-led research in advancing secure and trustworthy 6G technologies.