The enterprise seeks private cellular networks for the security they bring to mission-critical applications. They are isolated from public networks, with the owners controlling the security with fewer unmonitored entry points.
All members and their devices are identified with SIM cards and authenticated. In addition, security policies govern access to any part of the network based on roles. In short, private cellular networks are as close to security fortresses as is currently possible.
Threats emerging from IoT and 5G networks
However, private networks also communicate with devices and networks outside their secure fortresses with the Internet of Things and devices in the wild where security is challenging to monitor and control remotely. In addition, the IoT devices have public IP addresses which are vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Cybersecurity is a moving target, and 5G is a source of new threats that grow with an all-virtual network and stacks of intersecting information technologies and communication technologies. In addition, interconnections with multiple devices, software, and firmware create new vulnerabilities.
Firmware and Hardware attacks
A research report from Microsoft shows that 83% of enterprise IT decision-makers have had their systems hit with a firmware attack in the last two years. The widespread incidence of firmware attacks is not surprising given the fact that budget allocations earmarked for firmware are only 29% of the average. Besides the shortage of financial resources, firmware is harder to update and patch, companies have less visibility into it, and it takes manual effort to repair any damage.
Hardware security also has emerged as a source of vulnerability in recent years. While private networks are impenetrable on the application layer, someone outside in the vicinity could use microwaves to damage the network.
End-to-end security
Adversaries probe for weaknesses in any one of many layers of technologies in private networks to find a door to gain entry into the rest of the system. It is no longer enough to protect one component of a system of technologies but to secure it end-to-end for all the layers. New security innovations are addressing the exploits that have emerged with 5G technologies and the IoT.
In the aftermath of Covid, the attack surface exploded with the growth of the hybrid workforce. Hackers can exploit any weak link between remote workers and corporate data centers to gain entry.
Investments in cybersecurity for private networks
Interest among operators, who have between 10 to 100 private networks, to invest in the security of private networks in the context of 5G runs high, with 45 percent considering it very important and 41 percent seeing vulnerabilities created by virtualization as a significant challenge. Furthermore, partnerships with cloud and IT companies and MEC (Mobile Edge Computing) technologies are considered important by 51 percent of the operators.
Their customers in the enterprise see a security-first approach as of paramount importance, and 85 percent have amended their policies after the deployment of IoT. They also consider private networks very important in the context of IoT (55%).
Operators (44%) have seen increased demand for security services from their enterprise clients due to Covid-19. Operators are planning to offer security (77%) as part of their private network solution. They see security as a top opportunity for revenue generation, forecasting 20% of 5G revenue to come from security.
Deployments and solutions
Leonarda, a military equipment vendor in the UK, built an environment for innovation in manufacturing with 5G. Security is a sensitive issue because it has an in-house accelerator program with start-ups pioneering the innovation of sensitive equipment in collaboration with Microsoft. Additionally, it wirelessly serves the mission, support, and maintenance data to military aircraft built on its premises.
Mobile Edge Computing
It took recourse to Microsoft’s MEC (Mobile Edge Computing) technology for fortifying its security in a heterogeneous technology environment created by 5G. The factory integrates a complex mix of virtualized network functions for computing and storage machines, a broad mix of applications, and multiple layers of hardware, firmware, and software from several partners. MEC creates a sandbox for security management where the multiple technology layers converge to filter potential malware. As a result, hackers don’t get to get around security protections by finding a way to the weakest links. Instead, all the security policies and tools are applied consistently to all the individual layers from the same vantage point.
Private cellular networks for Software-defined IoT
Enterprise private networks secure external IoT and mobile devices, identified with private static addresses, connecting them over a private IoT cellular network.
Bi-directional remote controls implement security policies from the enterprise private network to the IoT private cellular network. As a result, the IoT devices receive updates from a local gateway. In addition, artificial intelligence monitors cybersecurity risks by identifying anomalies in the behavior of the device. Asavie’s private SD-IoT solution, recently acquired by Akamai, is illustrative of the security solutions for remote IoT devices. Optus is one of their customers, which has white-labeled the solution.
SASE and hybrid workforces
Hybrid workforces create the need to extend the private network to individual homes, typically over a public internet broadband connection. Technologies like SD-WAN sit on top of Internet broadband connections and create a private network to remote offices. Network security provided by SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) is a network end-to-end security software that connects to the edge and does not require mediation from the corporate data center. Versa has delivered SASE software for deployments, but it has not disclosed the specific names.
Conclusions Enterprise private networks are the core for ensuring network security, but they are only a part of a nexus of private networks that constitute the distributed network. In addition, the enterprise can extend to partners and sub-contractors who have their private networks and could interlink with each other. Each of the private networks addresses specific use cases, such as the IoT and the hybrid workforce. In addition, any private network within the extended enterprise has its satellite networks for use cases such as hybrid workforces or the IoT. The enterprise network, however, remains the focal point of all these networks for control purposes.
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