Clavister is launching its LTE Small Cell Security solution for mobile network operators at Mobile World Congress, on the Intel stand. The solution provides authenticated, encrypted connectivity from multiple small cell base stations to 4G and LTE mobile cores, protecting the network and subscriber data traffic against unauthorised access and interception.
Clavister’s LTE Small Cell Security solution addresses the need to secure the fast-growing number of small base stations being deployed to address subscribers’ bandwidth needs in public areas. Research firm Heavy Reading estimates that cell site numbers will grow by around 50% globally by 2016, with a majority of these being micro- and small cells that cannot be physically secured as easily as conventional mobile base stations.
Clavister’s solution is a virtualized environment running on x86 Intel Architecture®-based platforms, greatly reducing cost and deployment time. It features next-generation firewalling for packet core security; encryption from eNode B to small cells, ensuring data integrity and secure backhaul; and enables intelligent mobile data offload to WiFi networks.
John Vestberg, CEO of Clavister said: “Small cell deployments help MNOs to improve service to subscribers and reduce costs by sharing functions in a distributed operator environment, but this can also introduce significant security risks, as an individual operator may no longer manage the connection from small base stations to its mobile core. Our LTE Small Cell Security solution enables virtualized network security zones for small cells, with encryption to protect subscriber traffic against breaches. It achieves this with a small footprint, enabling rapid, highly flexible deployment with no performance penalty.”
Clavister’s LTE Small Cell Security solution is based on the company’s Virtual Security Gateway next-generation firewall (NGFW). When deployed on an operator’s LTE network, the Gateway acts as an IPsec termination point from multiple small cell base stations, providing authenticated and encrypted connectivity to the mobile network core. Virtualization enables segregation of traffic from different small cells, with the ability to apply different policies and feature sets. This delivers full protection in mobile operators’ distributed environments.