5G Security Challenges & Solutions: A Comprehensive Survey

5G technology offers faster connections than ever before, but it also poses a variety of new security vulnerabilities. 5G is expected to enhance user mobility, and facilitate ultra-reliable and cost-effective networking of a vast array of devices, including the Internet of Things (IoT).  The primary technology accelerators, including Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Software Defined Networking (SDN), and cloud computing, are developing in preparation for their application in 5G.  This paper describes the primary 5G security issues and provides workarounds for these problems. The challenges include network slicing vulnerabilities, a growing attack surface due to the growth of connected devices, insufficient mechanisms for authentication and authorization, and growing privacy concerns. Moreover, supply chain security, interference and jamming, and vulnerability to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks pose significant risks. Treatments include using blockchain technology, implementing a zero-trust architecture, and using AI-driven security measures. In this paper, we give a summary of the privacy concerns in 5G as well as the security challenges in these technologies. We also outline future directions for secure 5G systems as well as security solutions to these problems.