Cybersecurity in the Telecom Sector and impact of 5G on Cybercrime

In a chat with Voice&Data Dhananjay Ganjoo, Managing Director India & SAARC at F5 Inc. shares his thoughts on the current and future security landscape in the Telecom Industry.

F5, a multi-cloud application security and delivery company enables some of the world’s largest enterprises, financial institutions, service providers and governments in the area of secure digital experiences.

How is the cybersecurity landscape changing since we’ve almost come out of the pandemic?

The pandemic accelerated the digital journeys of businesses, and with the invention of new technologies, security has become a primary focus area. Additionally, businesses becoming application-dependent has further increased the demand for cybersecurity, irrespective of the size of the business.

According to a report, India has experienced 193 million cyberattacks on application program interface (API), making it the 5th most attacked country in the world. The cyberattacks have been more focused on financial (22.6%), e-commerce (30.2%), and other digital media sectors (32.6%).

How does India stack up against other regions regarding cybersecurity preparedness?

In the past few years, India has witnessed a major uprise in cyberattacks across all industries. Therefore, it has become imperative for the nation to adopt security practices to protect themselves in this digital transformation era. Multi-factor authentication for applications and networks was introduced in India, much ahead of the rest of the world. Businesses are not just adopting regular cybersecurity practices but also focusing on biometric and third-party data protection. For instance, financial institutions in India have deployed technology to protect them and their customer data from infected PCs. While India is on the right track, we have a long way to go when it comes to the adoption of holistic cybersecurity strategies.

How large is India as a market for F5?

India is a significant market for F5, and we have a base of 1000+ customers. Operating for more than two decades in the country, F5 has its largest R&D center in Hyderabad, with 700+ people working towards new developments and innovations.

Cybercriminals could use the high speed of 5G networks to amplify their existing modes and develop new ways of attack. The deluge of data involves IoT devices while creating multiple endpoints, thus allowing attackers to access the data through various routes.

From an F5 perspective, what steps or initiatives have been taken to stay ahead of the competition?

In earlier days, applications were commonly built on monolithic architectures with complex codes, making it difficult for businesses to secure them.

The pressing need for businesses to undergo digital transformation to stay relevant in the market, led to the increase in cloud adoption and an upward trend to host applications in multiple locations. To address this growing demand, F5 transitioned from a hardware centric to a software-oriented business, with a mission to enable companies to move and host their applications anywhere without compromising on security.

With F5 Distributed Cloud Services paving the way for multiple points of presence (PoPs) worldwide, with a couple planned to go-live shortly in India this Quarter. With these PoPs, F5 offers Web Application Firewall (WAF), Web Application and API Protection (WAAP) , DNS security, DDoS services, and cloud workload protection services, enabling infrastructure as a code or platform-as-a-service to its customers. We further connect applications on different clouds, offering security and data communication to our customers. Therefore, these unique solutions help F5 to stay ahead of its competitors.

Please share the investment plans for FY22-23 for India.

We have been operating in India for about two decades now and have a large sales force, which we see growing further in the future. Currently, we have a vertical strategy with an increased focus on BFSI, telco, government, large enterprises, IT/ITeS, pharma, and manufacturing.

In addition, F5 is heavily investing in building up R&D centers in India. Apart from the R&D center in Hyderabad, we are planning for another center in Bangalore to accelerate technology innovations. Furthermore, we focus on increasing investment in F5’s Distributed cloud WAAP, application security, and NGINX services.

What are the emerging areas and key vulnerability trends in 5G networks and services?

According to a survey by Trend Micro, 39% of organizations cited security as the largest concern in the 5G era. 5G attracts IoT devices, further expanding the attack surface and accessibility of the network to bad actors. Data transfer, information sharing, and third-party systems are primary areas of concern. In addition, hosting applications on distributed edge compute sites brings new security threats as 5G’s powerful connections can potentially accelerate the attacks even further.

In the past few years, India has witnessed a major uprise in cyberattacks across all industries. Therefore, it has become imperative for the nation to adopt security practices to protect themselves in this digital transformation era.

Hence, it is important for businesses of all scales and sizes to focus on a holistic security strategy.

In the view of F5, will the launch of Enterprise 5G and private networks create additional concerns? What are they?

The primary concern here is security. Cybercriminals could use the high speed of the 5G network to amplify their existing modes and develop new ways of attack. The deluge of data involves IoT devices while creating multiple endpoints, thus allowing attackers to access the data through various routes. Additionally, 5G networks can potentially open doors to DDoS attacks, leading to risks in protecting a sophisticated network of connected devices, where compromising one device can lead to affecting the whole network.

Is F5 focusing on 5G? What are your products that specifically address this segment?

With 5G creating a lot of buzz recently, all businesses are looking toward leveraging the power of the network for better performance. While offering reliability and agility, it also brings security concerns. To overcome the 5G security challenges, F5 provides solutions to scale, automate, and secure the 5G innovation that works from the core to the edge.

F5 leads in the application, network, and security and offers a wide range of 5G security and infrastructure solutions. We provide two main products that address service providers’ challenges while building the cloud-native infrastructure to support the 5G ecosystem, which are F5 BIG-IP Service Proxy for Kubernetes and Carrier-Grade Aspen Mesh. BIG-IP SPK aligned with Kubernetes design patterns for configuration and orchestration to enable greater performance and scalability in the 5G infrastructure. Further, with Carrier-Grade Aspen solutions, F5 provides network flexibility, scalability, and the visibility one needs for troubleshooting and signaling control.

How does Cloud figure in the 5G security suite, and how will F5 fit into this?

Introducing the fifth generation of the network brings tremendous changes in cloud computing. The higher speed and lower latency will be a catalyst for cloud computing services. Cloud computing intertwined with 5G provides a new world of innovations and opportunities for businesses by increasing accessibility, greater IoT connectivity, improved security, enabling edge computing, and real-time insights.

F5 Distributed Cloud Services provide a platform to overcome the complexities of 5G network deployment and operating operations and services across multiple shadows from the core to the far- edge and into the enterprise edge. Service providers can gain a faster time-to-service to start monetizing their investments while delivering on the pledge of 5G.

Share some insights on recent cyber threats in India and how F5 played a role in mitigating them

India has a leading API economy, with banking and e-commerce industries largely using APIs, attracting bad actors to switch to these types of attacks. According to a report, India has experienced 193 million cyberattacks on application program interface (API), making it the 5th most attacked country in the world. The cyberattacks have been more focused on financial (22.6%), e-commerce (30.2%), and other digital media sectors (32.6%).

F5 Distributed Cloud WAAP (Web Application and API Protection) protects apps and APIs deployed across cloud, and edge sites and provides fully integrated, best-of-breed WAF offerings, bot protection, advanced API security, and DDoS attack. Unlike traditional WAAP offerings, F5 Distributed Cloud solutions simplify security policy enforcements for distributed applications spanning multi-cloud, data centers and edge locations.

By Dhananjay Ganjoo

Managing Director India & SAARC, F5 Inc

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