The challenge
The promise of 5G is to develop and enhance new business models and possibilities for all markets and deliver the full potential of innovative technologies. Use cases such as smart cities, autonomous cars, remote surgeries, real-time remote-controlled operations and AR/VR in critical environments will require flawless IIOT-OT and 5G security to avoid human, environmental and economic damage.
With such a promise, private mobile networks are a major trend. IDC estimate that by 2025 75% of enterprises in industrial verticals like manufacturing or logistics will adopt private 5G networks.
With 5G private networks, and the associated slicing capabilities, enterprises or organizations Atos approach will gain agility and efficiency in the allocation of resources by managing quality and consistency of service according to need and sensitivity. The technological breakthrough behind 5G (VNF/ NFV, SD-Networks) will change the offering landscape and enable enterprise to implement their own 5G networks with low CAPEX /adjustable OPEX, while the expected benefits are significant.
At a wider scale, there are also clear benefits for public networks. Cities, such as New York and London, are planning to begin initiatives for building connectivity infrastructures for public utility and Smart Cities use cases by federating an ecosystem of telco, vendors, and digital players, providing buildings blocks and platforms to manage security and operations at the scale
The risk
However, according to OMDIA survey completed in 2020, one of the issues that is still preventing enterprises from deploying 5G networks is integration with legacy systems (42%), while “reliability and quality of service” are the main perceived advantages (45%).
As there are many technology options, providers, deployment models, we see questions around:
- How to choose?
- How to integrate with legacy systems?
- How to secure?
Enterprises will have to navigate a large landscape of offerings mixing telecommunication operators , cloud service providers, cloud communication service providers and cloud- computing giants. They will have to choose the best business and operating model for their needs while ensuring networks are secure.
“5G will not only herald a new technological era but will also require major updates in the security approach, as new vulnerabilities will overlay traditional threats”, says Barbara Couée, Portfolio Manager in Digital Security, Atos.
Atos approach
Enterprises will need a trusted 5G security orchestrator to implement a holistic 5G security program, mixing organization, processes, services, interconnections, data, protocols, network products, and orchestration to secure the new virtualization infrastructure, the software defined network, and the new network functions.
When building a 5G network, organizations need to identify the risks, classify their data, develop the end-to-end security strategy and define the threat mitigation plan.
To deploy a 5G secure-by-design network, essential security questions must be addressed such as:
- What data will need to sit where and therefore what security levels will be required?
- Which services are critical for your operations/business and must always be protected?
- What are the security controls that must be implemented (APIs, containers security, SDN, NFV)
- How can we detect and respond effectively and efficiently to cyberthreats
Share this Page
