By Kavit Majithia

Nokia cautions on pushing 5G too fast

Mary O’Neill, VP software at Nokia, issued a plea to service providers pushing faster deployment of 5G, warning that prioritising speed over security could lead to bigger issues down the road.

Speaking on a 5G security session, O’Neill (pictured) acknowledged that there was an ongoing race to get 5G out there “faster, faster, faster,” but compromising security to ensure they win the race to deployment was a backward approach.

She said: “It’s easier to build security in from day one in the architecture, rather than having to patch it in later.”

Focusing on 5G specifically, O’Neill said the security requirements had now changed and it was no longer possible to use existing solutions to counter the problem.

“We need more technology. When I set the strategy for Nokia, we are investing in machine learning, playbooks, workflows and we really believe in automation to help solve this problem. The good thing about 5G is it is a transformation. We can take all those 4G learnings and take them into 5G.”

O’Neill went on to hail Nokia’s security prowess as one of its “differentiators,” but noted that she sees similarities between the company and its chief European vendor rival, Ericsson, which will aid the wider security effort.

“If I look at some of this, we have a lot in common, as we should. We do have to collaborate in the industry for our customers.”