With increasingly higher volumes of data being stored in data centres and the cloud, and with companies hyperscaling their computing, technology group Nokia has emphasised the importance of reliable cybersecurity for customers in the information and communications technology (ICT) space. 

Nokia cloud and network services head Samar Mittal points out that a lot of data fusion is happening globally, as are mobile money payments, which give rise to network exposure and vulnerabilities. 

He believes cyberthreats are growing in severity and frequency as more Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies develop, and as more people become digital service consumers.

Cyberthreat risk also increases as more technologies become disaggregated, Mittal explains, adding that software, hardware and data centres are often segregated from each other in that they are controlled by different operators or service providers. 

Mittal told Engineering News on the sidelines of the Africa Tech Festival 2022, in Cape Town, that Africa is rendered more vulnerable to cyberattacks as it leapfrogs in the digital space at a rapid rate.

To this end, Nokia has a specialised consulting arm that offers cybersecurity solutions, including proactive network security management.

Mittal highlights that, fortunately, there is a lot of global learning that has taken place in the cybersecurity space that can be used to mitigate against many known cyberthreats and risks.

Nokia states that as fifth-generation technology becomes more pervasive, it is crucial to examine existing security approach models and stay ahead of digital disruption.

The company reports that the average cost of a full data breach is $4.2-million, which is why security cannot be an afterthought.

As computing systems become more complex, conventional security methods are no longer a match to modern-day threats, making it increasingly harder to avoid making errors that hackers can exploit.

Nokia has implemented more than 500 security projects globally over the past 15 year and plays an active role in five standardisation bodies that are shaping security standards and best practices internationally.

The company offers end-to-end security products, consulting services and managed security services to customers to counter the ever-rising cyberthreats in the digital space.

Earlier this year, Nokia launched a cybersecurity-focused testing lab in Dallas, in the US, in which Nokia’s own products and partner products were being tested against real-world attack scenarios, to ultimately build the security resilience of 5G networks and its associated software, hardware and applications.

Liquid Intelligent Technologies hosted Engineering News in Cape Town for Africa Tech Festival 2022.