Case Study: UK Mobile Network Operator strengthens 5G resilience with NCC Group

Building trust in 5G. Securing cloud-native and OpenRAN environments By Philip Marsden

A major UK mobile network operator worked with NCC Group to support its 5G standalone rollout, which included a cloud-native 5G core, virtualised and containerised network functions, distributed edge computing, and OpenRAN components. The operator’s challenge was that this software-defined, API-driven, highly distributed architecture expanded the attack surface across cloud, telecom, and IT domains, creating risks that traditional telecom security testing could not fully address.

NCC Group delivered a specialist 5G Security Testing Programme covering the 5G core, Kubernetes and containers, NFVI, OpenRAN, and edge infrastructure. The engagement improved end-to-end visibility into 5G risks, hardened Kubernetes and container platforms, reduced exposure across APIs and management interfaces, strengthened identity and segmentation controls, and lowered the likelihood of a core or orchestration-layer compromise that could cause nationwide disruption or impact critical services.