Zero Trust Security Architecture for 6G Open Radio Access Networks (ORAN)

Abstract

The evolution of Open Radio Access Networks (O-RAN) is crucial for the deployment and operation of 6G networks, providing flexibility and interoperability through its disaggregated and open architecture. However, this openness introduces new security issues. To address these challenges, we propose a novel Zero-Trust architecture tailored for ORAN (ZTORAN). ZTORAN includes two main modules: (1) A blockchain-based decentralized trust management system for secure verification, authentication, and dynamic access control of xApps; and (2) A threat detection module that uses Federated Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning (FMARL) to monitor network activities continuously and detects anomalies within the ORAN ecosystem. Through comprehensive simulations and evaluations, we demonstrate the effectiveness of ZTORAN in providing a resilient and secure framework for next-generation wireless networks.