Network Virtualization Takes Multiple Forms, CSRIC Told
The FCC Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council working groups reported on their progress during a virtual meeting Wednesday, CSRIC’s first since December. FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel reshaped the council last year (see 2104150056), with more emphasis on 5G security and open radio access networks.
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“Simply put, this is important stuff,” said Debra Jordan, the Public Safety Bureau's new chief, at her first CSRIC meeting. “I can’t overemphasize in my work with the national security folks how important the work you’re doing is, and especially with open RAN that we think it is going to be so important to make sure we get it right and get it secure,” she said. “I recognize the level of expertise required to address these topics and put a great deal of trust in all of you to help us find the best way forward,” she said.
The Leveraging Virtualization Technology to Promote Secure, Reliable 5G Networks is still bringing in experts to get their perspectives and sort through how to separate virtualization from other security issues, said that working group's co-Chair John Roese, chief technology officer of Dell Technologies. “Virtualization doesn’t exist in isolation,” he said. “We had good, healthy discussions around the virtualized RAN and virtualized core and how to think of those two areas,” he said: “There definitely is a theme that standards vulnerabilities [from] legacy environments do carry forward.”
The WG is discussing the types of virtualization, Roese said. “Virtualization as a term is largely misunderstood in many cases,” he said: “It’s important that we clarify it and describe the different dimensions of it and the forward-looking natures of it because it will be a foundational technology.” Supply chain is critical, he said. “Because the virtualized environments come from a much broader supply chain, both hardware and software, we need to contemplate that implication on the security trust environment,” he said: “Compliance testing and configuration control is complex in this environment given the diversity of technologies coming together.”
The Promoting Security, Reliability and Interoperability of ORAN Equipment WG is looking at the “increased threat, attack surface” in open networks, said co-Chair Mike Barnes, Mavenir chief security officer. The WG is asking “what are the threats that are brought with ORAN, how to mitigate those,” he said. A report will recommend to the FCC how to work with standards bodies and other groups and regulators “to promote the security and interoperability and reliability of open RAN,” he said.
The 911 Service Over Wi-Fi WG is exploring the “public safety benefits, technical feasibility and cost of options” of 911 over Wi-Fi, said co-Chair Mark Reddish, APCO government relations manager. “We need to understand the way that 911 calls over Wi-Fi are being delivered today and how they can be delivered today, really understand what are the rules for 911 over Wi-Fi and then we have a map of what rules could be changed,” he said.
Locating Wi-Fi callers is a major issue, Reddish said. With Wi-Fi calls, you don’t have that traditional mechanism for routing by the cell sector that is carrying the wireless call,” he said. It has been helpful to have a group focused on the public safety benefits, “because the landscape of issues of 911 over Wi-Fi is so vast that having this perspective of what features or enhancements could be most beneficial for public safety should make it easier to prioritize the various technical issues that are being considered,” he said.