99
A Comprehensive Guide to 5G Security, First Edition. Edited by Madhusanka Liyanage, Ijaz Ahmad,
Ahmed Bux Abro, Andrei Gurtov, and Mika Ylianttila.
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2018 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
5
5.1 Introduction
We live in the era of 4G, and some parts of the globe are still mainly entertained by
3G or 2G technologies. Yet, we are already heading towards 5G and with all the
hyperconnectivity and high‐tech innovations and services, we are increasingly exposed
to serious threats of cyber‐attacks. Dobrian [1] remarks that cyber security has been a
major issue for sectors such as financial services, defence, healthcare, media and online
social media. From a technical point of view, significant research effort has been
made so far into standardizing 5G and cyber security [2]. For instance, 5GPPP, a public‐
private partnership body funded by the EU and several other research projects are
working in areas such as the physical layer, overall architecture, network management
and software networks [3]. Although one of 5GPPP’s recent publications mentions
that 5G is business driven in a European context, research results from a business and
management perspective still remain negligible [4].
Moreover, there are also gaps in the knowledge as to how 5G is expected to impact
the management organization at the security level. These issues raise some important
questions. In a world flooded with 5G innovations, increased amounts of information,
ultra high speed and low latency, how is the security scene expected to improve? Is it
about alternative ways of organizing existing techniques that facilitate security
delivery? Or will 5G facilitate new kinds of innovation for cyber security? Furthermore,
since 5G is deemed to be business driven, how to monetize security as a service in
5G is a significant question. It can be argued that the more monetizable the security is,
the more business entities will be interested to deliver secure services and products by
investing more in it.
We utilize the concept of business models as a boundary‐spanning unit of analysis [5],
in order to construct a founded understanding of 5G security business. The business
model as a concept links abstract strategies to the practical level of decisions and actions
within the uncertainties of the modern business context [6–10]. Business models are
Cyber Security Business Models in 5G
Julius Francis Gomes
1
, Marika Iivari
1
, Petri Ahokangas
1
, Lauri Isotalo
2
,
Bengt Sahlin
3
, and Jan Melén
3
1 Martti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business & Economics, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, Finland
2 Elisa Corporation, Finland
3 Oy LM Ericsson AB
A Comprehensive Guide to 5G Security, First Edition. Edited by Madhusanka Liyanage, Ijaz Ahmad,
Ahmed Bux Abro, Andrei Gurtov, and Mika Ylianttila.
© 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2018 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
5
5.1 Introduction
We live in the era of 4G, and some parts of the globe are still mainly entertained by
3G or 2G technologies. Yet, we are already heading towards 5G and with all the
hyperconnectivity and high‐tech innovations and services, we are increasingly exposed
to serious threats of cyber‐attacks. Dobrian [1] remarks that cyber security has been a
major issue for sectors such as financial services, defence, healthcare, media and online
social media. From a technical point of view, significant research effort has been
made so far into standardizing 5G and cyber security [2]. For instance, 5GPPP, a public‐
private partnership body funded by the EU and several other research projects are
working in areas such as the physical layer, overall architecture, network management
and software networks [3]. Although one of 5GPPP’s recent publications mentions
that 5G is business driven in a European context, research results from a business and
management perspective still remain negligible [4].
Moreover, there are also gaps in the knowledge as to how 5G is expected to impact
the management organization at the security level. These issues raise some important
questions. In a world flooded with 5G innovations, increased amounts of information,
ultra high speed and low latency, how is the security scene expected to improve? Is it
about alternative ways of organizing existing techniques that facilitate security
delivery? Or will 5G facilitate new kinds of innovation for cyber security? Furthermore,
since 5G is deemed to be business driven, how to monetize security as a service in
5G is a significant question. It can be argued that the more monetizable the security is,
the more business entities will be interested to deliver secure services and products by
investing more in it.
We utilize the concept of business models as a boundary‐spanning unit of analysis [5],
in order to construct a founded understanding of 5G security business. The business
model as a concept links abstract strategies to the practical level of decisions and actions
within the uncertainties of the modern business context [6–10]. Business models are
Cyber Security Business Models in 5G
Julius Francis Gomes
1
, Marika Iivari
1
, Petri Ahokangas
1
, Lauri Isotalo
2
,
Bengt Sahlin
3
, and Jan Melén
3
1 Martti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business & Economics, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, Finland
2 Elisa Corporation, Finland
3 Oy LM Ericsson AB