U.S. networks have shown remarkable resilience during the coronavirus pandemic. Service providers have been under pressure to deliver seamless connectivity to millions of people working at home, going to school and seeking entertainment online. The networks have seen unprecedented stress: total traffic on AT&T’s core network has jumped by 25% since the COVID-19 outbreak. While there have not been any large-scale outages to date, operators must quickly adapt to new patterns of digital usage as well as new cybersecurity threats.
Discussion topics
- As the vast majority of the workforce operates remotely on unsecured home networks, the attack surface has expanded overnight and created significant opportunities for hackers, including state-sponsored organizations. Cybersecurity threats will have to be reevaluated
- Due to remote work, we are seeing massive strains on VPNs and network security appliances that are still housed on premise. We expect this new demand to lead to re-engineering of architectures to handle the increased capacity. Privacy concerns for videoconferencing will most likely lead to better privacy enforcement (e.g., CCPA, GDPR and more)
- The move toward software-controlled network function virtualization will enable operators to implement necessary changes to deal with the changing dynamics of the crisis. The pandemic will accelerate this transition, which will be boosted by edge computing and the broader deployment of 5G
- Telcos must continue to increase capacity. One way operators have achieved this is by borrowing spectrum to handle traffic spikes. Additional network investment is likely to be required: Verizon already said it will increase spending on its network by $500 million to support its network and 5G expansion
Speakers
Alex Chitea
Principal, Cybersecurity
Orange Silicon Valley
Email: alexandru.chitea@orange.com
David DeWalt
CEO/Managing Director
NightDragon Security
To view this video content, you must accept YouTube cookies.
These cookies make it possible to share or react directly on the social networks to which you are connected or to integrate content initially posted on these social networks. They also allow social networks to use your visits to our sites and applications for personalization and targeting advertising.
The Next Normal series is produced by Orange Silicon Valley, the innovation division of the Orange Group that collaborates with startups, investors, entrepreneurs, and enterprises. Building on Orange’s 20+ years of immersion in Silicon Valley, the webinars will help executives at the Fortune 500 understand Silicon Valley’s impact on the global digital economy. We extend these webinars to Orange Business customers for complimentary thought leadership during the COVID-19 crisis. Orange Silicon Valley brings together corporations to access Silicon Valley innovation through the expertise, startup network and scalability of Orange Business through the xForce co-innovation program. Interested in learning more about xForce? Contact David Martin: david1.martin@orange.com.