Private 5G Networks Safer than Legacy Systems, Still Face Challenges, Experts Say
As electric utilities and other companies move to private 4G and 5G networks, they will likely get better security than on their legacy networks, experts said during a Fierce Wireless virtual conference Tuesday. Speakers said security needs will vary by company and simplicity is usually better than building a network that’s too complex. “If you make something too complex, you have more variables, you’re asking for trouble,” said Roy Chua, principal at AvidThink: “Complexity is one of the biggest enemies of security.”
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The use case matters, said Chris Guttman-McCabe, chief regulatory and communications officer at Anterix, a private network company. “It comes down to understanding the uses and the use cases,” he said: “There’s no single solution.” Anterix is focused on electric utilities, which need to be able to “design, deploy, architect, an environment that aligns with their mission,” he said. Anterix also uses licensed, dedicated spectrum “which obviously supports … control,” he said.
“You have to build a network where security is baked in, not bolted on afterwards,” Guttman-McCabe said. Anterix is working with a utility that is sunsetting 22 private wireless networks and moving them to a single LTE network, he said: “Hopefully, they’re going to clean up some of that legacy connectivity and move it onto a more secure network.”
“Private networks bring with them a lot more opportunity,” said former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. “You’re able to increase security as you deem necessary,” he said. But there are multiple flavors of private networks so the benefits and risks can vary widely, he said. Congress and regulators can do only so much to guarantee security, he said. You can mandate security “and you’re still going to have problems,” he said. “Locking in a structure, adopting rules or regulations, I just don’t find fruitful,” O’Rielly said.
If you’re implementing 4G or 5G private network “the controls that come inherently with those technologies are very durable, highly unlikely to increase the information security risk,” said Dean Willard, partner at Imagine Wireless and former chief information security officer at T-Mobile. The devices attached to the network are more secure than what a company used on its legacy network, he said. The “bad news” is that moving to a new network won’t erase all the security problems a company already has, he said. The technology a company already is using is “really what you need to think about securing as you bring private networking into your ecosystem,” he said.
“You’re going to get some new tools for device security, but you still have to worry about device security as it moves across your environment and in and out of your environment,” Willard said. “You still have to worry about the security of applications” and of “your infrastructure overall,” he said: “You still have to worry about network and data security.”
On a second panel, speakers discussed benefits and challenges of launching a private network. A survey by GSMA found 22% of businesses said they need a private network and that’s “a good number,” said Pablo Iacopino, GSMA Intelligence head-research. The number “can only grow as private networks become mainstreamed,” he said. Businesses need to consider revenue generation and cost savings, he said. Companies appear evenly spilt on their motivations, he said.
Paoze Lee used federal funds to build a network for the Dos Palos Oro Loma Joint Unified School District in California, based on citizens broadband radio spectrum. “We’ve got two towers up and running -- we have parents and students connecting to that, using that for homework,” said Lee, the district's tech director. Lee said the district decided to move forward to cut costs relative to hot spots by major carriers. Over a five-year period, the estimated savings is a little more than $400,000, he said.
One of the biggest needs is education, said Rikin Thakker, Wireless Infrastructure Association chief technology officer. Companies “are ready to invest, money is there,” he said. “It’s just that they don’t know where to start.”