FUTURE TECHNOLOGY
Edge devices that provide insight and data from everything from a Smart City to an autonomous vehicle and robots in a factory – fuels extensive demand for networks that can support the speed at which these devices can deliver information to their parent systems .
Enter 5G . The one thing about the intelligent Edge is that it needs a speedy network to be intelligent . If we are to rely on the data from an IoT device to make up to the second decisions that impact the productivity of a business , we can ’ t afford to have a high-latency network . 5G promises to reduce the speed and time it takes to transport information across these networks . And its practical use all but delivers on the promise of the intelligent Edge .
While 5G is no longer a concept we are waiting for but a reality many countries are living in , there is still much to be done by telcos companies to unlock its full value and scale their 5G services .
A security risk
Security is a threat and an opportunity to telco operators in the digital world and as telcos look to expand their services into digital ones , including adding cloud services to the mix , the security risk increases . The same can be said for the addition of 5G services . Why ? Because as networks become built on software , operators can decentralise them , which means that the attack surface expands .
The security risk comes in due to the growing network footprint and the sheer volume of devices that can now connect to a network . With 5G services , operators widen their network ’ s data net and speed , volume and diversity . The same goes for digital services such as direct routing across a data network . A Software-Defined Network may assist an operator in reducing latency , redundancy , privacy and sovereignty , but it does increase the risks of cyberattack .
Telcos will need to ensure that they add new services , add new security policies , adopt a Zero Trust approach and make security intrinsic to the networking and
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS 35