Celona unveils Aerloc to boost 5G network security for IoT

Celona has unveiled Aerloc, a new suite of security capabilities designed to enhance private 5G wireless network security for industrial IoT systems.

Celona's Aerloc aims to address challenges faced by industrial IT and OT systems by providing enhanced security and connectivity. Aerloc introduces extended SIM-based authentication for unified zero trust enforcement alongside dynamic and distributed policy enforcement capabilities. Additionally, it includes air-gapping functionalities between IT and OT traffic on shared private 5G networks, facilitated by Celona MicroSlicing technology.

The company noted that traditional IT zero trust architectures often face difficulties in industrial environments due to the necessity of low latency on-premises data processing, the extensive variety of IoT devices needing agentless authentication, and the IT-OT network divide. Celona's solution is designed to unify IT, OT, and private 5G into a single management system, enabling secure real-time data capture and analysis from IIoT devices for both operational and security purposes.

In conjunction with the announcement of Aerloc, Celona has expanded its global channel program, now named the Celona Frequency Partner Program, and entered a global partnership agreement with TD SYNNEX. This move aims to assist resellers and managed service providers in securely delivering private 5G services.

Celona Aerloc integrates with several enterprise security solutions, such as Palo Alto Networks Cortex XSOAR, Cisco ISE, and Aruba ClearPass, using an open API framework to facilitate integration with security services including firewalls and SD-WAN solutions across various deployment models. This enables secure device authentication without requiring device-side software.

The dynamic and distributed policy enforcement feature is designed to integrate with tools like posture assessment and IoT security solutions, offering a localised security architecture that enforces policies down to individual device levels, significantly reducing potential security vulnerabilities.

The air-gapping capability allows for secure segmentation of IT and OT traffic, ensuring separation of critical operational data from general enterprise traffic to maintain security integrity.

Will Townsend, Principal Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, commented, "Operational technology environments are challenging to secure from a connectivity perspective given the use of industrial sensors and IoT devices that are more easily compromised. 5G cellular technology provides additional encryption over 4G LTE and older Wi-Fi standards, but more is needed given the growing sophistication of bad actors. Celona Aerloc aims to address these challenges and accelerate the adoption of private 5G within the enterprise with a purpose-built, easy to manage, zero-trust security architecture that blends support for both IT and OT network deployments."

Rajeev Shah, CEO and Co-Founder of Celona, mentioned, "Celona Aerloc represents a significant milestone in how industrial networks are secured. By seamlessly integrating zero trust principles with our enterprise 5G LAN architecture, we empower organisations to confidently migrate mission-critical OT operations to private 5G while maintaining ironclad security and granular control. Aerloc eliminates the traditional trade-off between operational agility and cybersecurity, paving the way for true IT/OT convergence and all the benefits it offers."