3G rollout to play out new security challenges: Fortinet

Leading security vendor Fortinet today said rollout of 3G services in India would throw up fresh security challenges, demanding new solutions to tackle these problems.

"The issue of ensuring security would move from end-user to service providers in the new scenario," said company Regional Director (SAARC region) Vishak Raman.

The 3G scenario would raise security issues relating to handset, application, IP multimedia subsystem (IMS), and access, he said.

As each 3G device becomes identifiable, the possibility of a handset getting attacked would increase. Service providers would not only have to be concerned about internal infrastructure security, but also have to cater to consumers' security.

"The biggest challenge would be ensuring security at the peering gateway," he said, where the service providers of various circles would have interact with each other. "The peering gateway would be the weakest link," he said.

Another challenge would also be in preventing IP blacklisting, whereby an individual or enterprise e-mails or SMS could be blocked as they are tagged as spammers. The enterprise has already begun raising the issue with service providers, but soon would also mean retail consumers demanding security relating to prevention of IP blacklisting, he opined.

Fresh security challenges like protecting MMS would also demand more comprehensive solutions.

Fortinet, a leading provider of network security appliances and the leader of the unified threat management maket worldwide, he said, was focused on protecting the customer and the infrastructure of the service provider.