Nokia added analytics and automation capabilities to its security management software that allows service providers to monitor and control all the multi-vendor security systems deployed across their networks.

The latest release of its NetGuard Security Management Center software will include a new dashboard and an automated security workflow engine. In addition to mitigating threats before breaches occur, this engine allows service providers to eliminate up to 70 percent of false-alerts and reduce alert investigation times by more than 50 percent, according to Nokia.

The release will be available in the first quarter of 2018.

The NetGuard Security Management Center software consolidates data and extracts actionable insights from a variety of intelligence sources. These sources include Nokia’s NetGuard Endpoint Security anti-malware software, its Deepfield technology used to prevent distributed denial of service [DDoS] attacks, and its Threat Intelligence Lab, which aggregates data from mobile and fixed networks worldwide.

In addition to in-house sources, the software works in tandem with third-party security systems to monitor network security status and manage vulnerabilities.

“The goal is to be able to take in data, analyze and correlate that data, and respond to those threats in a rapid fashion using an automated cyber playbook,” said Robert Marson, head of business strategies for the security product unit at Nokia. “Our goal is to help you detect more, detect faster before those threats become real issues, and shrink or eliminate the time between detection or response.”

In addition to announcing the new software release, Nokia also released findings from its 2017 Threat Intelligence Report, which found smartphone infections accounted for 72 percent of all mobile network infections. The rest were due to Internet of Things (IoT) devices and Windows-based PCs.

The report also highlights Wannacry, which was responsible for one of the largest ransomware attacks of all time earlier this year, infecting more than 230,000 computers in 150 countries. While security patches were available prior to the attack, they were not deployed in many cases.

Marson said this underscores the need to ensure all network devices are securely configured and patched proactively.

“The network perimeter has all but disappeared, and IoT devices create another layer of that challenge,” he said. “You’re increasingly seeing malware being weaponized to take advantage of these exploits.”