Impact of IPsec on Security and Performance in Private 5G Standalone Networks

Abstract

This paper focuses on enhancing the security of 5G Standalone (SA) networks using Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) technology. 5G SA networks represent a promising communication infrastructure for smart factories, households, and large-scale deployment of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Although these networks rely on SIM-based authentication and provide a high level of security at the access layer, private 5G networks operated by third parties may still face risks related to data integrity and confidentiality. This issue is particularly critical in environments with elevated security requirements, such as military systems. The objective of this paper is to analyse the impact of IPsec implementation on the performance characteristics of a 5G SA network. Experimental measurements were conducted using the iperf and ping tools, while simultaneously monitoring Central Processing Unit (CPU) utilization, for both Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) traffic in uplink/downlink configurations (45/55). The evaluation compares cryptographic algorithms Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) AES-128, AES-256, and ChaCha20, with the obtained results referenced against a baseline scenario without encryption. The results show that the use of IPsec has a significant impact on both network throughput and latency, with the magnitude of this impact depending on the selected algorithm and the hardware platform used.