Fergie's Tech Blog

Numbers: Telcos Plan for Converged Voice/Data/Video Networks--But Not Security

Katherine Walsh writes on CSO Online:

A recent survey of global telecom carriers conducted by IBM found that 85 percent of carriers plan to roll out IP-based next-generation networks (NGNs) within the next five years. NGNs represent the convergence of voice, data and video onto one network. But according to the survey, the 2007 State of Security in Carrier Service Delivery, NGNs pose inherent security risks that carriers are not equipped to deal with. Only 46 percent of those surveyed said they have a strategy in place for addressing security risks posed by NGNs.

Because NGNs are based on IP, a highly exploited protocol, they will likely be prone to the same security issues affecting the Internet. Nearly 36 percent of those surveyed said that security issues are impeding their rollout of service bundles that include television, Internet and telephony. However, that number is down from 55 percent in 2006.

posted by Fergie @ 11/27/2007 02:19:00 PM