  The Open RAN architecture is a promising and future-oriented architecture. It
is intended to open up the radio access network (RAN) and enable more
innovation and competition in the market. This will lead to RANs for current 5G
networks, but especially for future 6G networks, evolving from the current
highly integrated, vendor-specific RAN architecture towards disaggregated
architectures with open interfaces that will enable to better tailor RAN
solutions to the requirements of 5G and 6G applications. However, the
introduction of such an open architecture substantially broadens the attack
possibilities when compared to conventional RANs. In the past, this has often
led to negative headlines that in summary have associated Open RAN with faulty
or inadequate security. In this paper, we analyze what components are involved
in an Open RAN deployment, how to assess the current state of security, and
what measures need to be taken to ensure secure operation.
