Call for Papers – IEEE MeditCom 2021

IEEE MeditCom Special Session

Securing Future Networks

Background and Motivation
5G systems, and even more so future communication network technologies, bring a new rich set of features and capabilities, which, in addition to their technical and business value, are also accompanied with various side-effects, one of the most important of which is the drastic increase in the attack surface, compared to legacy network infrastructures. Some of these capabilities, which, under certain circumstances, may introduce new vulnerabilities and increase the probability of a security incident, are: software-defined infrastructures (emphasising vulnerabilities associated with softwarisation); slicing and multi-tenancy (resulting in threats related to violation of slices isolation); multi-actor service paradigms and infrastructure sharing (raising privacy and availability concerns); and complex and multi-tier architectures (introducing new threats at the control and management planes).
In addition, in 5G and future networks, not only the probability of a security incident increases, but also its expected impact and severity. The connection of more and more devices to the network, many of which track personal data, while others support critical operations (as in Intelligent Transport Systems/connected cars or e-health), implies that security incidents can lead to severe privacy breaches and in some special cases even life-threatening situations.


This situation calls for a more effective and efficient cybersecurity approach in future networks, not only addressing their new threats, but at the same time leveraging their unprecedented capabilities – such as service agility, dynamic network service deployment and edge processing- to introduce a new generation of security architectures and services.

Topics of interest

This special session aims at bringing together network and security engineers to discuss challenges associated to, but not limited to, the following topics:

  • Trust and attestation for Virtual Network Functions (VNFs)
  • SDN security
  • Network slice isolation and security
  • Security assessment of multi-tenant network infrastructures and neutral host deployments
  • Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) evolution for future networks
  • Virtualisation of security functions
  • Big Data Analytics for incident detection and classification, Endpoint Detection and Reponse
  • AI for cybersecurity at the edge
  • Zero-trust architectures
  • 5G Managed Security Services
  • Integrity assurance for cyber-physical systems and embedded devices
  • Endpoint Detection and Response
  • Threat Intelligence sharing
  • Security Orchestration, Automation and Reponse (SOAR)
  • Standardization and Validation of cyber-security technologies and trust techniques

Organising Committee

Supporting Projects

Paper submission
We invite you to submit novel, unpublished work relevant to the scope of the special session. Please refer to the author’s area in the conference website for submission guidelines and paper templates:

Call for Special Sessions

Please submit your paper using the EDAS platform:

selecting the “Securing Future Networks” session.


Paper submission deadline: EXTENDED April 10th April 23rd May 21st, 2021
Acceptance notification: 21 June 2021

5G-PPP and 5G verticals

5G is here to enhance the communication systems and provide the sufficient technical background for a global transformation. Industries like automotive, media, manufacturing and others will be benefited by the deployment of 5G network. You may read more about the vertical use of 5G here: https://5g-ppp.eu/verticals/

New 5G/B5G SME Web Page and Brochure available!

The NetWorld2020 SME Working Group is pleased to inform you that a new update of the “Find the SME you need” web page is available. This new update shows the skills and expertise of 65 SMEs. It may be sorted by technological expertise or by vertical sectors. Four new SME success stories are also released at the same time, adding to the previous ones. The brochure entitled “European SME Expertise in 5G and Beyond” has also been updated. Do not hesitate to have a look and download it for further use.

The European 5G Conference

Taking place virtually, the 2021 edition of The European 5G Conference will be held on 23-25 February. Now in its 5th year, the European 5G Conference has an established reputation as Brussels’ leading meeting place for discussion on 5G policy. With the European Commission currently consulting on a review of The 5G Action Plan, this year’s conference will focus on this and more. It will look at the role that 5G can play in digital recovery, and more broadly on the way forward to ensure that Europe’s 5G goals and objectives are fully achieved. For more information and to register your place, visit 5Gconference.eu.

Drones tested over 5G at the 5GENESIS Athens platform

“5G and Drones trials at Egaleo stadium” by kedke.gr online (in Greek) at https://kedke.gr/technikes-dokimes-5g-me-drones-sto-dimotiko-gipedo-aigaleo/

5G trials with drones at the 5GENESIS Athens platform

“Drones over Egaleo city” by xtypos.gr (in Greek) available online https://www.xtypos.gr/δήμοι-αττικής/δήμος-αιγάλεω/drones-με-5g-πέταξαν-πάνω-από-το-αιγάλεω/

Presentation at the “Drones 3S Pro online conference”

Dr. Harilaos Koumaras (NCSRD), 5GENESIS coordinator, presented on 27 January 2021 the “5G!Drones Trials in Athens: Results, Challenges and the Next Steps” at Drones 3S Pro online conference (Athens, Greece). Special mention was made on the 5GENESIS Athens platform where 5G!Drones project trials performed at the end of October 2020. More information available at (in Greek): https://dronespro.gr/drones-3s-project-2021/programma/

Paper: NB-IoT Random Access: Data-driven Analysis and ML-based Enhancements

G. Caso, K. Kousias, Ö. Alay, A. Brunstrom, M. Neri, “NB-IoT Random Access: Data-driven Analysis and ML-based Enhancements”, IEEE Internet Things Journal, to appear, 2021. Supplementary materials and Dataset available at https://mosaic-simulamet.com/nbiot-randomaccess/