The Third Mobile Network Evolution: A Perfect Response to a Security “Perfect Storm”

Apr 03, 2018
2 minutes
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“Revolutionizing Mobile Network Security” was the topic of our recent theater presentations at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. In a series of five short presentations and a panel discussion, Palo Alto Networks experts, along with representatives from Telefonica and AT&T, discussed the revolutionary changes in mobile networks, the threat landscape, and the steps needed to get ahead of growing threats to mobile network operators and their enterprise customers. You can view a video replay of the first presentation here.

In spite of tremendous advances in mobile networks – from 3G to 4G and now 5G – deployment of underlying security infrastructure protecting mobile networks has significantly lagged. Cybercriminals have introduced game-changing attack tools, using automation, toolkits and cloud technology. The mobile network security posture has not evolved, and we now have the perfect storm: highly advanced tools in a rapidly growing mobile ecosystem with poorly protected mobile infrastructure and mobile devices.

Security technology is now in its third stage of evolution. During the first evolution, security capabilities were developed to protect against threats. With the second evolution, security functions were expanded to provide visibility and consistent protection in all areas of the network. In the third stage, the consumption models and data collection and analysis must be changed so that cloud intelligence and automated response can be successfully implemented.

In “Advanced Analysis of Mobile Threats,” presented at Mobile World Congress, Peter Margaris, head of Service Provider Product Marketing, and Greg Day, VP & CSO of Palo Alto Networks, EMEA, explained how Palo Alto Networks is leveraging automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data analysis to enable a prevention automation security framework to thwart cyberthreats to mobile, IoT and enterprise infrastructure.

Members of Unit 42, our threat intelligence team, also presented results from their recent research, including an analysis of advanced threats effecting subscribers and networks.

For more details on Palo Alto Networks approach to mobile network security, watch “Advanced Analysis of Mobile Threats.”


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