6G SAGE: Enhanced security of next generation wireless networks with autonomous agentic AI based design

6G-SAGE

By combining agentic intelligence with security-by-design principles, the 6G-SAGE project establishes the foundation for trustworthy, autonomous protection in AI-native communications, strengthening secure and ethically sustainable 6G development.

Project information

Project duration

01.09.2026 - 31.08.2030

Funded by

Research Council of Finland

Funding amount

581 892 EUR

Project coordinator

University of Oulu

Unit and faculty

CWC-Networks and Systems

Faculty of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

Contact information

Project leader

Professor

Mika Ylianttila

Other persons

Tharaka Hewa
Postdoctoral Researcher

Nisita Weerasinghe
Doctoral Researcher

Janani Kehelwala

Researchers

Professors

Project description

Future 6G networks will be AI-native, dynamic, and hyper-connected, enabling new types of autonomous systems, digital twins, and mission-critical services. Unlike today's 5G, 6G will be distributed, self-optimizing, and adaptive—but this also expands the attack surface and creates new security risks. Traditional, human-centric defenses cannot keep pace with such autonomous environments. This project introduces an Agentic-AI Security-by-Design Framework, where intelligent agents embedded across the device–edge–RAN–core continuum perceive, reason, and act to prevent threats proactively. These cooperative, context-aware agents provide resilient, self-healing, and transparent defense with explainable and verifiable safeguards. By combining agentic intelligence with security-by-design principles, the project establishes the foundation for trustworthy, autonomous protection in AI-native communications, strengthening secure and ethically sustainable 6G development.