As digitisation gathers pace, manufacturers, energy companies, and transportation businesses are among the sectors increasingly turning to private 5G to connect their operational technology (OT) environments.
With its ultra-low latency and reliable coverage, 5G enables more seamless and reliable connectivity than Wi-Fi. Additionally, 5G promises to accelerate IT-OT convergence and thereby help improve efficiency, enhance decision making, and drive new revenue streams.
Yet with this progress comes new opportunities for hackers. OT can be at the heart of critical infrastructure, meaning disruption could cause major problems and even endanger people. The threat is widespread. According to research by Palo Alto, three-quarters of industrial organisations globally have detected malicious cyber activity in their OT environments.i
The cybersecurity dividend
However, cybersecurity is also viewed as a key driver for the uptake of 5G. With 5G, the OT network is encrypted end-to-end, which enables completely secure communication between devices and systems.
The technology also facilitates network slicing, which allows organisations to create wireless virtual networks for specific applications or departments. Businesses can thereby isolate data and reduce the risk of security breaches in the wireless domain, mirroring what they can do today in the wired domain.
These security benefits are important for two reasons. First, given the high costs and significant brand damage associated with operational disruption, organisations cannot afford unplanned downtime to their OT systems. Second, enterprises must increasingly be on their guard against the threat of industrial espionage and data leakage.
Andre Ferreira, Director of Enterprise 5G Customer Solutions at NTT DATA, explains: “Increasing IT-OT convergence exposes OT networks to a broader range of external threats. More than ever, businesses are concerned that threat actors could place malware on their OT networks and syphon valuable data over an extended period. Network visibility is therefore critical.”
The network visibility challenge
Paradoxically, it’s the high levels of security enabled by 5G networks that makes it difficult for businesses to achieve the visibility required.
End-to-end encryption means that it’s not possible to use network probes, so private 5G effectively blinds security teams using traditional techniques to what devices are connected to the network and how they are communicating.
Owing to this lack of visibility, individual devices cannot easily be identified and profiled, meaning that security teams are unable to apply device profiles or traffic management policies.
Consequently, since networked devices are unknown and traffic cannot be monitored, security teams are unable to apply threat detection or automated remediation, potentially leaving them exposed to data exfiltration.
Shining a light on the OT network
NTT DATA has teamed up with Palo Alto Networks (PAN) to solve this challenge. The companies’ “P5G + Cybersecurity Bundle” embeds a next-generation firewall (NGFW) from Palo Alto into the Private 5G network to deliver inline visibility.
The NGFW draws on unencrypted data from the network, the 5G core, and the 5G management platform and enables manufacturers to identify devices, profile traffic flows, and quickly identify suspicious communications.
Ferreira explains: “By integrating Palo Alto’s industry-leading firewalls into the private 5G OT network, manufacturers can continue to benefit from the protection provided by end-to-end encryption while simultaneously unlocking the visibility needed to monitor for potential data exfiltration, apply device-level policies, and enable automated threat detection and remediation.”
NTT DATA believes that this approach to gaining visibility into 5G private networks is crucial for any business with an OT network and includes the solution as standard in all new private 5G deployments.
Ferreira concludes: “5G is already a highly secure solution for OT and IT networks. Now, with Palo Alto, we are making the technology even more secure, so organisations can connect their OT systems and accelerate IT-OT convergence with complete confidence.”
Learn more about the NTT and PAN partnership.
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Source: News