Nokia Networks today announced two new network security capabilities — Network Access Guard and Signaling Security Solution – for telecom service providers.
The telecom network is expanding the security solutions at a time when telecoms are facing an increase in security challenges due to the rapid roll out of 3G, LTE networks and telecom cloud and SDN.
The global market for carrier software-defined networking (SDN) software, hardware and services is expected to grow from $103 million in 2014 to $5.7 billion in 2019, according to IHS.
“Potential vulnerabilities in the SS7 (Signaling System 7) protocol could open the door to advanced fraud, hijacking of subscriber communications or Denial-of-Service attacks. Protecting security and privacy of smartphone and Internet of Things (IoT) devices is also important for mobile operators,” said Nokia Networks.
Nokia’s Network Access Guard secures, identifies and monitors employee access while simplifying the way privileged users handle critical network elements.
Nokia’s Network Access Guard implements centralized identity access management in multivendor networks. The company achieves protection 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 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 Signaling Guard tracks SS7 sessions and inspects signaling traffic in real time. The solution can block unauthorized access to subscriber profiles and helps assure service availability. Efficient fraud protection builds subscriber trust to secure revenue streams.
The SS7 protocol is susceptible to various attacks, and, if violated, can track phone numbers with a precision of up to 50 meters.
