New A10 Networks Firewall helps pave secure path to 5G

A10 Networks, a secure application services company, today announced the expansion of its A10 Thunder CFW (convergent firewall) family with a new Gi/SGi firewall solution and a software-only vThunder CFW for NFV deployments.

The new A10 Thunder CFW addresses rising security concerns of service providers who are focused on the industry’s transition to 5G, broad-scale deployment of network functions virtualization (NFV), software-defined networking (SDN) technologies and the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices.

The A10 Thunder CFW also helps service providers deliver a strong, secure networking environment for their own infrastructure as well as for their subscribers by combining the security of a carrier-grade firewall with built-in CGN and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) features.

A10 Networks’ convergent firewall allows service providers and enterprises to streamline their networks by consolidating security and application networking into a single, high-performance solution. This gives A10 customers the security, high performance and efficiency to enhance their network’s predictability, while confidently introducing revenue-generating applications to service growing subscriber needs.

With the A10 Thunder CFW, service providers can achieve exceptionally high firewall connection rates – 220 Gbps of throughput, all in a one rack-unit appliance, which includes enough capacity to support up to 256 million concurrent sessions – the approximate equivalent of one connection for every citizen of Indonesia, or one connection for every desktop PC and laptop sold in the world in 2016.

Highlights of the A10 Thunder CFW

· Gi/SGi Interface Protection— Protects subscribers and shields mobile core infrastructure – including enterprise services and NAT IP pools – from cyberattacks to ensure uninterrupted operations. Includes integrated mobile network security and advanced policy enforcement capabilities, such as stateful firewall, IPsec VPN, DDoS protection and protocol anomaly protection.

· IPsec for Mobile Backhaul Protection – The connection between cell sites and core networks are not inherently secure. A high-scale IPsec VPN between LTE cells and security gateways helps mitigate risks of mobile devices targeting mobile core infrastructure and maintain confidentiality and data integrity for subscriber traffic. This is also useful in cases where an operator offers carrier grade Wi-Fi over an untrusted Wi-Fi access network.

· 5G-ready — Supports a high number of concurrent sessions, and subscriber scale, to provide performance and availability for network scaling demands, ensuring providers maintain customer satisfaction and loyalty with the 5G transition.

· Ready for the Modern Network — Carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT) functionality is fully integrated with A10’s Gi/SGi firewall to address the shortage of IPv4 addresses and extend a provider’s current IPv4 investment. Thunder CFW provides comprehensive IPv6 transition options. Convergence of the Gi/SGi firewall with CGNAT capabilities produces welcome CapEx and OpEx reduction.

· Accelerates adoption of SDN/NFV — The new vThunder CFW supports emerging architectures and offers a flexible, pure software appliance ready to support emerging data center and cloud architectures.

“The A10 Thunder CFW enables service providers to secure and scale their infrastructure to meet subscribers’ mobility needs as 5G and Internet of Things trends become prominent,” said Raj Jalan, CTO of A10 Networks. “With the A10 Thunder CFW Gi/SGi Firewall, our customers enjoy the security of a carrier-grade firewall coupled with integrated DDoS protection, and they also have a path to future-proof their networks for next generation technologies.”

“Increasing mobile data traffic and the advancement of settled standards will drive 5G emergence,” said analyst Jeff Wilson, Senior Research Director, Cybersecurity Technology, IHS Markit. “As service providers look to gradually evolve their 4G networks, they will be looking to monetize new services and applications, which in turn will create new security scenarios and require new security solutions. A10 Thunder CFW has all the pieces in place to help service providers navigate not only emerging network architectures, but also the ever-evolving threat landscape.”

“There’s still a lot of opportunity in the Gi Firewall market”, said Patrick Donegan, Principal Analyst, HardenStance. “According to our market estimates it’s a pretty safe bet that at least one in four mobile operators still don’t have any firewall implemented on the Gi interface. Among the majority that do, new firewall capacity and feature requirements are also continuing to evolve.”