Nokia Networks has extended its security portfolio with new protection capabilities designed to help operators deal with the complex demands of protecting security and privacy in the smartphone and IoT era.
The two new solutions help shield network operations from unauthorized access, both from external attackers and from staff within organizations.
The new Network Access Guard addresses the sheer intricacy that operators face in managing internal staff access to multiple network element systems. It secures, identifies and monitors employee access while simplifying the way privileged users handle critical network elements.
Meanwhile, the Signaling Security Solution can identify weaknesses in an operator's SS7 infrastructure and implement a firewall to protect against subscriber data being hacked as well as other malicious intrusions. Nokia Networks claims it is the only major telecom infrastructure vendor to offer such end-to-end SS7 protection.
The SS7 protocol is susceptible to various attacks, and, if violated, can track phone numbers with a precision of up to 50 meters.
The Network Access Guard implements centralized identity access management in multivendor networks. Protection is achieved through a combination of single sign-on authentication for user simplicity, session management to control who accesses network resources, audit logging to track user sessions, and user policy management.
The software can secure traditional, virtualized and Software Defined Networks (SDN) supplied by multiple vendors. It helps avert service interruptions that could damage customer experience, cause revenue loss and lead to Service Level Agreement (SLA) penalties.
Nokia's Signaling Security Solution consists of two elements: Signaling Guard and Security Assessment.
TheNokia Signaling Guardtracks SS7 sessions and inspects signaling traffic in real time. Thus it is able to detect external attacks that normally would not be recognized by conventional SS7 network elements. The solution can block unauthorized access to subscriber profiles and helps assure service availability. Efficient fraud protection builds subscriber trust to secure revenue streams.
Nokia Security Assessment is a new service that analyzes an operator's network security architecture and protection of network elements to pinpoint vulnerabilities that could lead to security breaches or service disruptions. The insights provide the foundation for planning and implementing security improvements to allay subscribers' privacy concerns, encouraging higher use of mobile services.
"The vulnerability of SS7 to eavesdropping and DDoS attacks surfaced as an issue for operators during the summer of 2014,” said Patrick Donegan, Chief Analyst, Heavy Reading. “As with other vulnerabilities that emerge with older technologies that are expected to remain in the network for a significant period of time, these are vulnerabilities that operators need to be looking to close off."