Nokia said the new lab will serve as a central repository for cybersecurity knowledge that will be shared across Nokia and with its operator, enterprise and government customers
Nokia announced the launch of its Advanced Security Testing and Research (ASTaR) lab in Dallas, Texas.
In a release, the Finnish vendor said that the new facility is the first end-to-end 5G testing lab in the U.S. focused solely on cybersecurity.
Nokia also said that the ASTaR will go beyond looking at individual network elements and also focus on the larger context of network use and abuse scenarios.
The vendor said that hackers and state actors have more possibilities of attack in the 5G era due to many types of interworking endpoints, extensive use of open-source software and large-scale use of 5G in a variety of industries.
As the central lab dedicated solely to security forensics and research, ASTaR will use and develop tools and techniques to assess the security resilience of 5G networks, as well as the associated software, hardware and applications. ASTaR will then use these assessments to address emerging security threats, and lab researchers will engage with the cybersecurity community to identify emerging threat vectors and potential vulnerabilities, Nokia said.
Nishant Batra, chief strategy and technology officer at Nokia, said: “5G will enable countless new services for consumers, government and businesses, and the industry must be hyper-vigilant in ensuring these 5G ecosystems are secure. To demonstrate our leadership and commitment to security, Nokia will be the first to inaugurate a lab in the U.S. with the singular mission of identifying and preventing cybersecurity attacks. ASTaR lab will be an ideal testing ground to assess security in the larger context of network use and abuse scenarios.”
According to the vendor, the lab will serve as a central repository for cybersecurity knowledge that will be shared across Nokia and with its operator, enterprise and government customers. In addition, Nokia will partner with customers to consider attack scenarios against networks and observe how security measures will fare against real security incursions.
ASTaR lab will be staffed by U.S.-based specialists in cybersecurity and is located on Nokia’s Dallas campus. In addition, ASTaR will leverage the security research capabilities of Nokia Bell Labs. Nokia’s Dallas office also features the Executive Experience Center, Energy Innovation Center, O-RAN Collaboration and Testing Center, Cloud Collaboration Hub and Nokia Services Lab.
In North America, Nokia has 5G deals with AT&T, Bell, C-Spire, Dish, Shaw, T-Mobile, Telus, US Cellular and Verizon.
