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Telecom security is shaped by coordination across operators, vendors, regulators, and researchers. Mobile networks rely on shared protocols, roaming relationships, interconnects, and complex supply chains, which means security practices evolve through industry alignment as much as through individual company initiatives. Industry groups and standards bodies provide the shared frameworks, terminology, and programs that help the ecosystem move in the same direction.
This article maps the main organizations that influence telecom security today, explains what each one does, and shows how they fit together. The goal is orientation and clarity, with a constructive emphasis on GSMA as a central coordination layer for the mobile industry.
How the ecosystem fits together
Telecom security work tends to concentrate in three complementary areas. Protocol and architecture work defines security mechanisms that vendors implement and operators deploy. Cybersecurity standardization work translates security expectations into structured requirements and guidance. Industry coordination work aligns stakeholders on shared priorities and operational programs.
In practice, these areas interact continuously. Protocol security creates what is technically possible at scale. Standardization creates common language for security requirements. Industry coordination creates shared direction, shared programs, and cross operator alignment on what matters most.
GSMA and why it matters
GSMA acts as a global convenor for the mobile industry, connecting mobile operators, vendors, and the broader ecosystem through initiatives focused on security and resilience. Its role is especially visible in the operational layer of telecom security, where alignment and shared practices create real impact across borders and networks. GSMA maintains a dedicated security focus area that covers mobile security topics and industry activities.
The GSMA Fraud and Security Group, FASG, is a flagship working group that drives industry work on fraud and security topics tied to mobile technology, networks, and services. It provides a structured venue for stakeholders to coordinate on security priorities that are most effective when approached collectively.
GSMA also plays a visible role in assurance through the Network Equipment Security Assurance Scheme, NESAS. GSMA presents NESAS as an industry funded scheme designed to support auditing and testing of network equipment, creating a common approach to equipment security assurance.
3GPP and security at the protocol level
3GPP is where mobile security becomes part of the technical foundation of cellular systems. It defines requirements and security mechanisms that are implemented across vendors and deployed across operators, which makes its security work central to how mobile networks evolve.
3GPP TSG SA WG3, commonly referred to as SA3, is described by 3GPP as the group defining requirements and specifying the architecture and protocols for security and privacy in 3GPP systems. This is a key anchor for security mechanisms across 4G and 5G systems and beyond.
3GPP also publishes Security Assurance Specifications, commonly referenced as SCAS, which describe security requirements and test cases for specific network functions or product categories. This supports more structured security evaluation approaches tied to standards based expectations.
GSMA and 3GPP together through assurance programs
Telecom assurance programs often connect industry coordination with standards based evaluation. NESAS is commonly presented as a GSMA led industry scheme that uses standardized security evaluation approaches, including inputs aligned with 3GPP security assurance specifications, to support equipment assurance. This creates a practical bridge between standards and assurance practices used in procurement and security evaluation workflows.
ETSI and cybersecurity standardization
ETSI is a major standardization organization for telecommunications and ICT, with dedicated cybersecurity standardization activity. ETSI Technical Committee CYBER, TC CYBER, describes its mission as delivering cybersecurity standardization solutions, guidance, and standards that increase privacy and security for organizations and users. This work is relevant to telecom because security requirements increasingly intersect with broader ICT cybersecurity expectations across cloud, software supply chains, and operational systems.
ETSI also publishes material that maps security related groups and activities across ETSI, which can help practitioners understand where different security topics are handled across technical committees and industry specifications.
ENISA and the European cybersecurity layer
ENISA influences telecom security through European cybersecurity coordination and certification oriented workstreams. ENISA has described work around a candidate EU 5G cybersecurity certification scheme, including collaboration mechanisms through ad hoc working groups. This contributes to shared understanding of certification approaches and how cybersecurity assurance can be structured at EU level for 5G systems.
O RAN Alliance and open architecture security
O RAN introduces architectural shifts through disaggregation, open interfaces, and broader software ecosystems. O RAN Alliance maintains a security workstream, WG11, and publishes updates describing ongoing work around O RAN security requirements and specifications across architecture elements, interfaces, and related components. This work is relevant to telecom security teams tracking how open architectures influence security engineering and assurance expectations.
TM Forum and security governance for digital telecom
Telecom security increasingly includes API exposure, automation, orchestration, and partner ecosystems. TM Forum work is relevant in that context, especially through its Open Digital Architecture security and privacy governance guidance, which frames security and privacy considerations for ODA components and implementations. This complements protocol security by focusing on the security governance of digital telecom architectures and integrations.
Meetups and community learning
Telecom security evolves fastest when standards and programs are paired with practitioner learning. Community events and meetups help practitioners share operational lessons, research findings, and emerging patterns that later inform formal guidance and engineering priorities.
In Paris, SecParis is an example of an established cybersecurity meetup community hosting talks and workshops. While not telecom specific, it provides access to security engineering discussions that repeatedly intersect telecom environments, including cloud security, incident response, identity, and operational risk topics.
A practical way to follow the space
A sustainable way to track telecom security groups is to treat each organization as a signal source with a distinct role. GSMA is a strong anchor for industry coordination and shared programs, including FASG and NESAS. 3GPP is the anchor for protocol level security and privacy mechanisms through SA3 and related specifications. ETSI provides cybersecurity standardization work that connects telecom with broader ICT security expectations. ENISA connects telecom security to EU level cybersecurity coordination and certification considerations. O RAN and TM Forum provide additional lenses for open architectures and digital telecom governance.
Conclusion
Telecom security is an ecosystem effort, and industry groups and standards bodies provide the shared direction, frameworks, and programs that make coordinated security progress possible. GSMA plays a particularly valuable role as a global coordination layer for the mobile industry, connecting stakeholders around security priorities, working groups, and assurance programs. When GSMA alignment is combined with 3GPP security architecture and protocol work, ETSI cybersecurity standardization, and active community learning, the result is a clear and scalable way for telecom stakeholders to advance security practices across networks and generations.
