Oakland, CA, November 5th 2013 – Many network operators are leaving themselves and customers open to security risks in the rush to deploy LTE networks and capture the new 4G market, according to Adax, an industry leader in high-performance mobile signaling infrastructure.

With full integration of IPsec security infrastructure lagging behind LTE deployments, Adax warns that operators are failing to fully protect their new LTE networks due to the complexity and expense involved.

Drew Sproul, Director, Marketing, Adax Inc, comments: “There are lots of all-singing, all-dancing security gateways on the market, but we’ve found that network operators often only need around 20 per cent of what’s on offer.”

“Coupled with the high prices, many operators will avoid investing in a full IPsec solution in the rush to fully deploy an LTE network. This creates a real risk of operators leaving themselves vulnerable to attack as they fail to address the changes in security when launching the network.”

The flatter architecture of LTE compared to 3G gives potential attackers a straighter path to the core network that leaves them much more vulnerable to attacks, putting end users at risk of spam, viruses, worms, data theft and identity theft. In addition, enterprise customers using commercial FAPs and insecure internet backhaul are exposed to threats including Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, eavesdropping, and the modification and replaying of data.

Adax has launched the SEG+, a complete security gateway product, to provide a low-cost, easily implemented answer to the emerging LTE security gap. The solution uses the most current IPsec security features including MOBIKE, IKEv2, stateful TCP/IP firewall, IPv6/IPv4 support, and 64-bit platform support.

“Without full IPsec security implementation, network operators will expose their customers to everything from the nuisance of spam calls to the extreme threat of data or even identity theft, so it’s vital that operators of all sizes are equipped with a solution,” adds Sproul.

The SEG+ package also offers robust, high-speed, security functions for any network node, from Femtocells, (e)NodeBs, SBCs and core network elements for both signaling and data plane traffic, giving operators a versatile solution in addition to the demands of LTE.