Palo Alto Networks announced at Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2024 partnerships with Nvidia, NTT Data, Celona, Druid, Ataya and Netscout to offer integrated and built-in private 5G security services.

“We are definitely seeing 5G rollouts happen at a very rapid pace,” Anand Oswal, senior VP and GM at Palo Alto Networks, told SDxCentral. However, a recent study by Palo Alto Networks highlights that nearly 70% of C-level executives perceive 5G-connected devices as a growing threat vector in operational technology (OT).

To address the threats, many mission-critical industries, including manufacturing, utility, oil and gas and government, leverage private 5G networks for digital transformation, Oswal said, adding the technology offers the network speed, reliability and flexibility these industries require.

Oswal highlighted the importance of an ecosystem approach to private 5G security, acknowledging the complexity of 5G infrastructure and the necessity for collaboration across vendors, service providers, and security companies.

The goal is to seamlessly integrate security into 5G deployments, rather than bolting on cybersecurity capabilities after the 5G infrastructure has been built, Oswal said.

“We are integrating our capabilities with [private 5G partners] for providing the security capabilities that what we are known for and bringing all those capabilities on to secure 5G networks, so I can now identify who's on the network, I'll be able to set policies for those devices, I'll be able to manage the lifecycle and protect them from all advanced threats, ransomware malware, exfiltration, etc.,” he added.

Palo Alto Networks' initial Private 5G partners include Celona, Druid, Ataya, Netscout, Nvidia and NTT Data.

For example, the partnership with Nvidia aims to “ensure that AI [artificial intelligence]-powered applications are optimized for speed, security, traffic accuracy and data isolation to maintain data sovereignty and achieve multi-terabit, cost-effective security for mobile networks,” the security giant claims.

“This is a strategic partnership, which will have an engine that are AI-powered applications that optimize for speed, for security, for traffic accuracy, data isolation, data sovereignty and achieve really high-throughput, cost-effective security for mobile networks,” Oswal said.

“Private 5G enables enterprises to collect, transfer and analyze massive amounts of data from the prevalent connected sensors and edge devices in today’s enterprise networks. Nvidia technologies accelerate Palo Alto P5G ecosystem solutions to help create a fast, secure and AI-ready private 5G infrastructure for modern enterprises,” Ash Bhalgat, senior director of cloud, telco and cybersecurity market development at Nvidia, said.

In addition, integrations with Celona, Druid and Ataya — organizations at the forefront of building new private 5G networks — can help secure radio networks; the partnership with Netscout is designed to help security teams gain deeper packet-level network visibility to make intelligent policy decisions; the collaboration with NTT Data aims to help customers quickly and easily deploy, manage and secure their private 5G networks.