Software Defined Mobile Networks (SDMN)

17Software Defined Mobile Network Security

Ahmed Bux Abro

VMware, Palo Alto, CA, USA

17.1 Introduction

Telecommunication has transformed rapidly into Infocommunication [1] in a short period and has forced us to digitalize our life and further derived changes for how we communicate, entertain, work, and socialize with other human beings.

This transformation to digital life has brought many opportunities as well as offers great challenges for how to protect our valued data, keep our privacy, and secure our Infocommunication networks that are used to provide access to billions of users, devices, and things. Cyberattackers have frequently challenged the telecommunication industry and put company’s reputation at risk. Increased use of mobile data has also introduced new security challenges and threat vectors.

Enhanced visibility, intelligence, and network wide control are required to protect from such threats while making sure mobile services are not compromised and always on.

Available vulnerabilities in an all-Internet-Protocol (IP)-based mobile network have made it easy for the attackers to use it as an attack Launchpad. Traditional security models were used to apply security on selected domains and place in the network (PIN) while keeping the rest of the network wide open.

Software defined mobile network (SDMN) has the potential to leverage the network as a tool to provide enhanced visibility, converged intelligence, centralized policy control, and real-time threat mitigation. ...