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> The push toward Open RAN, virtualization, and “cloudifcation” unlocks more choice and functionality for 5G operators. It has also thrust them into the unfamil

> The push toward Open RAN, virtualization, and “cloudifcation” unlocks more choice and functionality for 5G operators. It has also thrust them into the unfamiliar role of system integrator, suddenly responsible for securing the entire supply chain. I've worked with mobile operators before... most of them don't do any virtualization and cloudification, or any-fication... directly at all. They just buy a whole solution from ericsson/nsn/huawei, and configure it exactly as the vendor tells them to (in most cases, by sitting down and watching the vendor representative do it themselves). Sometimes it even comes in a prebuilt rack, that they just set up and connect and wait for the representative to configure. Are they hackable? Probably. But telcos being unfamiliar with 'cloud' (which is not true) is not the reason why.

beams_of_light 4y ago
Traditionally, that was the case. However, telcos are now moving toward Open RAN as an alternative to building their RAN networks on purpose-built hardware such as baseband units for 5G, and instead moving to a disaggregated, open radio access network. These ORAN networks are built on containerized platforms, primarily. So, we're moving away from traditional, dedicated NEP hardware to x86 machines running Kubernetes - something a lot more people than 4G/5G phreakers are familiar with.
- ajsnigrutin 4y ago
  Yeah, sure, but they don't set up those services themselves, but they buy the whole solution from a vendor, usualy together with hardware provided by the vendor. So they still get a all-in-one solution from eg. NSN or huawei, and the vendor sets up and does the initial configuration for the operator. (what I wanted to say is, that they don't take an empty server, install some linux on it, install kubernetes, and deploy each service one by one, but they buy it "all-in-one" from the vendor, so if there are security issues, they're usually because the vendor fucked something up)

beams_of_light 4y ago

Traditionally, that was the case. However, telcos are now moving toward Open RAN as an alternative to building their RAN networks on purpose-built hardware such as baseband units for 5G, and instead moving to a disaggregated, open radio access network. These ORAN networks are built on containerized platforms, primarily. So, we're moving away from traditional, dedicated NEP hardware to x86 machines running Kubernetes - something a lot more people than 4G/5G phreakers are familiar with.

ajsnigrutin 4y ago
Yeah, sure, but they don't set up those services themselves, but they buy the whole solution from a vendor, usualy together with hardware provided by the vendor. So they still get a all-in-one solution from eg. NSN or huawei, and the vendor sets up and does the initial configuration for the operator. (what I wanted to say is, that they don't take an empty server, install some linux on it, install kubernetes, and deploy each service one by one, but they buy it "all-in-one" from the vendor, so if there are security issues, they're usually because the vendor fucked something up)