Nokia announced the launch of its Advanced Security Testing and Research (ASTaR) lab, located in Dallas, Texas. It is the first end-to-end 5G testing lab in the U.S. focused solely on cybersecurity. ASTaR’s holistic approach to researching and testing secure solutions and potential network threat mitigations will go beyond looking at individual network elements and also focus on the larger context of network use and abuse scenarios.
In the 5G era, the nature and scale of information networks are evolving, as are the nature and scale of security threats. More avenues of attack are open to hackers, state actors and corporate espionage due to many types of interworking endpoints, extensive use of open-source software and large-scale use of 5G in a variety of industries. Network security resilience must be maintained as the attack scenarios are constantly changing.
As the central lab dedicated solely to security forensics and research, ASTaR will use and develop cutting-edge tools and techniques to assess the security resilience of 5G networks, as well as their associated software, hardware and applications. ASTaR will then use these assessments to address emerging security threats, and lab researchers will engage with the cybersecurity community to identify emerging threat vectors and potential vulnerabilities.
Nishant Batra, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer, Nokia, said: “5G will enable countless new services for consumers, government and businesses, and the industry must be hyper-vigilant in ensuring these 5G ecosystems are secure. To demonstrate our leadership and commitment to security, Nokia will be the first to inaugurate a lab in the U.S. with the singular mission of identifying and preventing cybersecurity attacks. ASTaR lab will be an ideal testing ground to assess security in the larger context of network use and abuse scenarios.”
The lab will serve as a central repository for cybersecurity knowledge that will be shared across Nokia and with its operator, enterprise and government customers. In addition, Nokia will partner with customers to consider attack scenarios against networks and observe how security measures will fare against real security incursions.
ASTaR lab will be staffed by U.S.-based specialists in cybersecurity and is located on Nokia’s Dallas campus. In addition, ASTaR will leverage the cutting-edge security research capabilities of Nokia Bell Labs. Nokia’s Dallas office also features the Executive Experience Center, Energy Innovation Center, O-RAN Collaboration and Testing Center, Cloud Collaboration Hub and Nokia Services Lab, making it a convenient destination for customers seeking a broad view of Nokia’s entire portfolio and capabilities.