Mobile operators can scale up without dropping guard
Integrator NEC and cybersecurity vendor Fortinet have entered a global agreement to secure 5G networks for communication service providers (CSPs) with a built-in system. Fortinet will provide its FortiGate hyperscale firewall and NEC’s service will be to build it into a carrier-grade 5G network.
The rise in data traffic created by 5G and the changes in the shape of networks created by Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) have exposed CSPs to many emerging threats, say the vendors. The challenge is to combat these without sacrificing customer experience. The answer is to adopt comprehensive security design and install protection as a critical priority that grows with the network, said an NEC statement.
The NEC-Fortinet pact gives CSPs deep insight into users, applications and threats and the simplified view helps them protect themselves from known and unknown threats in the 5G era. The companies will focus on key network security use cases and services, such as Radio Access Network (RAN), Mobile Roaming, Gi-LAN/N6 and Telco/Edge Cloud Security.
Fortinet’s high-performance automation and artificially-intelligent threat analysis should permeate all domains and layers of any CSPs’ complex 5G networks. NEC, as the network integrator, will pre-install Fortinet’s systems into carrier-grade services in at least 150 countries. It says its expertise in Fortinet has been honed at the NEC Centres of Excellence (CoEs), resulting in an ecosystem consisting of a suite of open products, the NEC Open Network, through which it will support CSPs with securely future-proof systems.
The growth of 5G depends on marrying the gung-ho spirit of enterprise with security consciousness, according to John Maddison, EVP of Products and CMO, Fortinet. “We’re pleased to partner with NEC to facilitate enterprises, 5G adoption and CSP success,” said Maddison.
“Fortinet is a perfect fit for NEC Open Networks,” said Hideyuki Ogata, General Manager of the Service Provider Solutions Department at NEC Corporation. “ Our customers have diverse needs for network security in the 5G era. This partnership promises to further enrich our service portfolio facing customers as a global network integrator.”