The O-RAN Alliance is a relatively new standards association that's focusing on creating open connections between various networking elements within 5G.
The alliance just announced its new "Release 002" batch of specification that includes 40 O-RAN specifications published since November 2021 including:• O-RAN R1 interface: General Aspects and Principles v1.0• O-RAN A1 interface: Test Specification v1.0• O-RAN Acceleration Abstraction Layer High-PHY Profiles v1.0• O-RAN Security Tests Specifications v1.0and another 36 technical documents that have been updated with extensions and new features.
The alliance published a lengthy post outlining all new improvements https://www.o-ran.org/blog/2022/04/06/o-ran-alliance-introduces-40-new-specifications-released-since-november-2021
The United States Department of Defense (DoD), in collaboration with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS), announced today the launch of the 5G Challenge Preliminary Event: RAN Subsystem Interoperability. This competition aims to accelerate the development and adoption of open interfaces, interoperable components, and multi-vendor solutions toward the development of an open 5G ecosystem.
DoD has started significant investments in 5G since it wants to create data-centric weapons systems that are able to communicate with each other. Through this and other related challenges it is trying to create a vendor community that will help...
New report from Eightfold AI - What Telecoms Need to Build a Future-Ready Workforce - outlines how telecoms can strengthen talent readiness to accelerate innovation and new offerings
The report contains the findings and insights from the Eightfold Talent Intelligence Platform, a deep-learning platform powered by the largest global talent dataset, to determine talent readiness for addressing innovation trends in the telecommunications industry.
For this analysis of talent in the telecommunications industry, Eightfold analyzed approximately 500,000 publicly available profiles from top telecoms.
With a constantly evolving skill mix due to automation, emerging technologies, and new business models, familiar telecom roles are undergoing...
OIC-CERT is the the Computer Emergency Response Team of The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. I've been following their excellent efforts around 5G security for a while and was glad to see how seriously they are taking it.
For example, about a year ago OIC-CERT published "Achieving 5G Security through Open Standards". The organization also recently held a 5G Security Framework Workshop
And now it has started rolling-out of the OIC-CERT 5G Security Framework Adoption at GISEC, the Middle East and Africa’s most influential and connected cybersecurity event.
The framework (in progress) is available here: https://www.oic-cert.org/members/index.php/cyber-security-landscape/feeds/10-cyber-threats/32-5g-security-wg
I will continue monitoring their efforts with...
The EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) continues its excellent effort on 5G security by issuing a report with suggested good practices for the secure deployment of Network Function Virtualisation (NFV) in 5G networks.
The report identifies some 60 security challenges for NFV, which it groups in seven categories:
Virtualisation or containerisation;
Orchestration and management;
Administration and access control;
New and legacy technologies;
Adoption of open source or COTS;
Supply chain;
Lawful interception (LI).
It analyses the relevant security controls and recommends 55 best practices to address these challenges, across technical, policy and organisational facets.
Some of the main issues identified are ensuring...
The attack, discovered on Monday night, impacted the 4g/5g network, TV, voice services, and SMS services provided to more than seven million people. While the company was able to restore 3G services, others remained impacted. It even affected the ATM network of some large banks connected to the Vodafone 4g network.
Vodafone called the incident "a deliberate and malicious attack intended to cause damage."
Mário Vaz, CEO of Vodafone Portugal, said in a statement that "our absolute priority is the restoration of our services. Our technical teams have been working non-stop from the moment this attack was found to reset the...
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman is asking $5.6B from Congress seeks to reimburse carriers for removing and replacing insecure 5G networking equipment - those made by banned Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE.
Congress had initially set aside $1.9B for the replacement program under The Supply Chain Reimbursement Program created by the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act. However, after FCC received 181 applications from carriers, the total cost has been estimated to $5.6B revealing a shortfall of $3.7B.
For more information see the FCC press release : CHAIRWOMAN ROSENWORCEL NOTIFIES CONGRESS OF DEMAND TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SECURE AND...
The EU Court of Auditors issued a special report "5G roll-out in the EU: delays in deployment of networks with security issues remaining unresolved" in which EU auditors are raising an alarm.
According to the report, 5G services are seen as essential for a wide range of innovative applications which have the potential to transform many sectors of our economies and improve citizens’ daily lives. 5G is therefore of strategic importance for the entire single market.
However, the majority EU member states are not on track with the deployment of their 5G networks and lack a common approach to...
The US National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently released the first of a four part series titled Security Guidance for 5G Cloud Infrastructures. This series of four action-oriented documents is intended to provide guidance on how to move toward zero trust in support of securing 5G. It’s been created as a joint industry and government effort with the support of several large contributors through the NSA’s Enduring Security Framework (ESF).
This final release in the series is titled Security Guidance for 5G Cloud Infrastructures - Part IV: Ensure integrity of Cloud Infrastructure with...
The US National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently released the first of a four part series titled Security Guidance for 5G Cloud Infrastructures. This series of four action-oriented documents is intended to provide guidance on how to move toward zero trust in support of securing 5G. It’s been created as a joint industry and government effort with the support of several large contributors through the NSA’s Enduring Security Framework (ESF).
This third release in the series is titled Security Guidance for 5G Cloud Infrastructures - Part III: Data Protection with the focus...
The US National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently released the first of a four part series titled Security Guidance for 5G Cloud Infrastructures. This series of four action-oriented documents is intended to provide guidance on how to move toward zero trust in support of securing 5G. It’s been created as a joint industry and government effort with the support of several large contributors through the NSA’s Enduring Security Framework (ESF).
This second release in the series is titled Security Guidance for 5G Cloud Infrastructures - Part II: Securely Isolate Network Resources with...
The US National Security Agency (NSA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently released the first of a four part series titled Security Guidance for 5G Cloud Infrastructures. This series of four action-oriented documents is intended to provide guidance on how to move toward zero trust in support of securing 5G. It’s been created as a joint industry and government effort with the support of several large contributors through the NSA’s Enduring Security Framework (ESF).
This first release in the series is titled Security Guidance for Cloud Infrastructures Part I: Prevent and Detect Lateral Movement and is...
Syniverse is a critical part of the global telecom infrastructure. It connects 300+ cell phone networks globally and acts as an intermediary for billing records and text messages sent between cell phone networks.
In the Securities and Exchange Commission filing Syniverse published last week the company disclosed that in May 2021 it "...became aware of unauthorized access to its operational and information technology systems by an unknown individual or organization." It also revealed that the security breach first started in May 2016 giving the attacker five years of access.
Syniverse claims to process more than 740 billion text messages per year...
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA), and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) published a new 5G security related paper - “Potential Threat Vectors to 5G Infrastructure”.
The report outlines three major potential threat vectors to the 5G infrastructure: policy and standards, supply chain, and 5G systems architecture. Each are described together with a number of sub-vectors.
The report also stresses that not implementing optional security controls can be damaging because it could make networks more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
The paper is available here: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/potential-threat-vectors-5G-infrastructure_508_v2_0%20%281%29.pdf
A term first coined by the Japanese government, “Society 5.0” describes "A human-centered society that balances economic advancement with the resolution of social problems by a system that highly integrates cyberspace and physical space." The fifth evolution of the society, enabled by the fifth generation of cellular networking and cyber-physical systems, imagines technology, things and humans converging to address some of the biggest societal challenges. The concept encompasses Industry 4.0, Fourth Industrial Revolution, Smart-Everything World and other buzzwords of the moment.
In the society of the future the more the cyber and physical worlds are combined, the greater the benefits...