Cybersecurity to be a top priority for telcos in 2023

Posted on by Alan Weissberger

Telecom has always been susceptible to cyberattacks and data breaches.  With increasing deployment of IoT devices, attackers will have more opportunities to obtain our data as more gadgets are connected to our network.  OpenRAN, with many more exposed interfaces, widens the attack surface for bad actors.

Different security risks brought on by 5G will leave the sector open to cyberattacks. To strengthen security surrounding connected devices, cloud systems, and the networks that connect them, telecom operators must invest in implementing stringent cybersecurity measures because there is a significant amount of sensitive data dispersed across intricate, private, and private networks.

According to Gartner, there will be 43 billion IoT-connected devices by the end of 2023. For those in charge of cybersecurity, it’s necessary to keep in mind IoT devices, such as smartwatches or human-wearable biometrics, monitoring systems, robotics, alarm systems, sensors, IT devices, and industrial equipment. IoT security is essential as more telecoms embrace the industry and implement these devices in their networks because they can remotely access base stations and data centers.

Finally, enterprises deploying SD-WANs and other private or virtual private networks. In particular:

  • Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) combines network security functions (such as SWG, CASB, FWaaS and ZTNA), with WAN capabilities (e.g. SD-WAN) to support businesses’ secure access needs. Previously, security for SD-WAN was an open, unresolved issue.
  • Secure Service Edge (SSE) is the security components of SASE focusing largely on the cloud access security broker, secure web gateway, and zero-trust network access products to enable secure use of the internet and cloud services for a hybrid workforce working from anywhere,”  said Gartner analyst Charlie Winckless.

A Dell’Oro group July 2022 report found that the SSE market grew 40% year-over-year to more than $800 million in the first quarter.  A December report noted that SSE  achieved its tenth consecutive quarter of sequential revenue expansion in 3Q-2022. Dell’Oro’s Director of Network Security, SASE, and SD-WAN Mauricio Sanchez said the strong growth is a testament to more enterprises preferring cloud-delivered security over traditional on-premises solutions.  Sanchez told SDX Central:  “The growth factors that have existed largely since the pandemic started are still with us.  That’s the shift to hybrid work, the shift of workloads to the cloud, and the importance of the digital experience.”

References:

https://insidetelecom.com/a-look-at-the-telecommunication-industry-trends/

Summary of EU report: cybersecurity of Open RAN

IEEE/SCU SoE Virtual Event: May 26, 2022- Critical Cybersecurity Issues for Cellular Networks (3G/4G, 5G), IoT, and Cloud Resident Data Centers

U.S. cybersecurity firms seek tech standards to secure critical infrastructure

Enterprises Deploy SD-WAN but Integrated Security Needed

Have we come full circle – from SD-WAN to SASE to SSE? MEF’s SD-WAN and SASE standards

4 thoughts on “Cybersecurity to be a top priority for telcos in 2023”

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  3. Cybersecurity burden falling ‘on consumers,’ not companies: CISA directorScroll back up to restore default view.
    Yahoo Finance
    US cybersecurity director: The tech ecosystem has ‘become really unsafe’
    Daniel Howley
    Daniel Howley·Technology Editor
    Thu, January 5, 2023 at 2:21 PM PST
    The head of the nation’s top cybersecurity agency is warning that the current technology ecosystem, which underpins much of our lives is at risk of being hacked by malicious actors.

    In an interview with Yahoo Finance at CES 2023 in Las Vegas, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly explained that the tech industry, consumers, and government need to come together to help improve cyber safety in the U.S.

    “We live in a world…of massive connections where that critical infrastructure that we rely upon is all underpinned by a technology ecosystem that unfortunately has become really unsafe,” said Easterly who was previously head of Firm Resilience at Morgan Stanley.

    She added: “We cannot have the same sort of attacks on hospitals and school districts that we’ve been seeing for years. We have to create a sustainable approach to cyber safety, and that’s the message that I’m bringing to CES.”

    “We’ve essentially accepted as normal that technology is released to market with dozens or hundreds or thousands of vulnerabilities and defects and flaws,” Easterly said. “We’ve accepted the fact that cyber safety is my job and your job and the job of my mom and my kid, but we’ve put the burden on consumers, not on the companies who are best equipped to be able to do something about it.”

    Over the last several years hackers and nation state actors have taken aim at everything from critical U.S. infrastructure to the IT systems that help small towns provide services to their residents. For example: In 2021, hackers attacked JBS, the world’s largest meat supplier, demanding an $11 million ransom. That same year, attackers broke into Colonial Pipeline’s systems, triggering fears of fuel shortages on the East Coast. And throughout the pandemic, hackers launched ransomware attacks against hospitals and hospital systems, forcing facilities to delay patient care.

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-cybersecurity-director-the-tech-ecosystem-has-become-really-unsafe-222118097.html

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