EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Mats Nilsson, Ericsson’s director of group function strategy and technology (pictured), suggested operators could adopt stricter rules and bar devices with low security from operating on their networks, amid the growing IoT security threat.

Nilsson told Mobile World Live the industry had to see “some form of certifications”, particularly for IoT devices used in more critical infrastructure.

However, he pointed out the network itself was also a “critical infrastructure” and therefore any connected device posed a threat and security requirements should be stepped up.

“We believe there will be a need for meshes to ensure the basic security for IoT, and that can be done through different market actors, or even for the operators to take more responsibility” on what devices they admit, he said.

Operators could adopt “stricter rules not to admit low security products on the network, or if there is need for regulation, that remains to be seen.”

With consumer data now being used increasingly by big enterprises, a trend set to increase with 5G and IoT, Nilsson said operators’ are increasingly looking at opportunities in this segment.

However, such a strategy comes with a unique set of security challenges.

“Operators see that smartphones and tablets offering media to subscribers is slowly getting saturated, and the new business revenue lies in the enterprise segment. This means a far more complicated ecosystem,” he warned.

Click here to watch the full interview.