The majority of 5G service providers experienced at least one security breach in the last 12 months, with at least one third reporting eight or more breaches, according to research by GlobalData into the current and future 5G security landscape and the managed security services market. The 5G Managed Security Survey 2022, commissioned by Nokia, said communications service providers view cyber attacks as a constant threat.
“The 5G threat landscape is constantly evolving and cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated causing CSPs to struggle to keep up with the abundance of changes and attacks,” according to the report, which included online surveys conducted in Spring 2022 with 50 communications service providers in the Asia Pacific, Latin America, North America, Europe, and the Middle East/Africa.
Depending on size, security teams spend between 16 percent to 22 percent of their time on vulnerability and threat management tasks that could be automated. “It’s a matter of when a breach will occur so automation is key for CSPs who are spending too much time on manual tasks which will increase the efficiency of their security teams, the report reads.”
The majority of the survey respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that fragmented security tools make it difficult to effectively implement security capabilities. This makes it challenging for communications service providers to “quickly defend and respond to threats,” the report said.
Eighty-two percent of respondents preferred updating their security configurations on an automated/software basis, and 64 percent agreed that security-as-a-service does not provide sufficient visibility and control over security services.
When it comes to 5G SA, 66 percent of respondents were concerned about their current ability to defend against threats from ransomware, followed by phishing.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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