DNB and Cybersecurity Malaysia will establish a National 5G Cybersecurity Testing Center
Malaysia’s state-run 5G network Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB) has signed a collaboration deal with national cybersecurity specialist center Cybersecurity Malaysia (CSM), with the main aim of to boosting cybersecurity for 5G networks across the country.
Under the new agreement, DNB and CSM plan to develop 5G security guidelines that will serve as a “fundamental requirement for the telecommunications industry” and serve as a guiding principle for future 5G security implementations.
The two parties will also establish a National 5G Cybersecurity Testing Center in Malaysia, which according to DNB, will serve as a platform for industry players to identify vulnerabilities, ensure compliance with standards and validate security measures. The pair also expects to share threat intelligence information with each other under the collaboration deal.
“Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility that necessitates the pooling of resources, intelligence, and expertise. By strengthening alliances and partnerships, we can enhance our collective ability to detect, prevent, and respond to cyber threats,” said Minister of Digital Malaysia Gobind Singh Deo.
Meanwhile, DNB’s COO Nasution Mohamed highlighted that a robust cybersecurity ecosystem was essential to ensuring the resilience of its 5G network.
Malaysia’s Digital Ministry and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) have been in talks since May with the aim of creating a policy to encourage private 5G deployments for industrial use cases in sectors such as health, manufacturing and agriculture, among others.
Earlier this year, Ericsson and DNB had announced plans to collaborate on 5G-Advanced (5G-A) technology
The Nordic vendor noted that the collaboration will focus on enhancing the 5G experience and accelerating digital services for consumers, government and enterprises, including offering on-demand services. This will be done by introducing enhanced radio access network (RAN) functionalities coupled with AI intent-based operations, Ericsson added.
Ericsson and DNB said they will collaborate for use cases enabled by end-to-end network slicing, high reliability and low latency features for public events such as live video broadcasting, industrial surveillance and industrial automation applications.
The partnership will also seek to drive the adoption of 5G for enterprises across Malaysia.
In May 2023, Malaysian authorities had said that the country would shift to a dual 5G network once DNB achieved 80% coverage in populated areas, something that occurred in December 2023. As of the end of April, DNB’s 5G network had reached 81.5% of the total populated areas and the adoption rate was 39.2%.
DNB was set up by the Malaysian government in 2021 as a special purpose vehicle to develop the country’s 5G network infrastructure, which private telecommunications firms are currently using to offer 5G services to their customers. DNB’s 5G network was deployed by Ericsson.
