Solely dedicated to security forensics and research, the ASTaR lab will use and build tools and techniques to evaluate the security resilience of 5G networks and applications.
According to the telecoms giant, researchers at the 5G testing lab will work with the cybersecurity community for identifying emerging threat vectors as well as potential vulnerabilities also covering network threat mitigations beyond individual network elements.
The ASTaR lab will also make use of the security research capabilities of Nokia Bell Labs, the research arm of Nokia. Earlier this year, Bell Labs entered into a partnership with AT&T to build a distributed massive multiple-input multiple-output (DmMIMO) technology for substantially boosting uplink capacity and speeds in 5G networks.
Nokia chief strategy and technology officer Nishant Batra 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.”
ASTaR lab will be staffed by US-based specialists in cybersecurity located on Nokia’s Dallas campus where the Finnish firm already hosts its O-RAN Collaboration and Testing Centre, Cloud Collaboration Hub and Nokia Services Lab. Additionally, Nokia said it will partner with customers for considering attack scenarios against networks and security measures will work against real security incursions.
