by Mat Dirjish

Industrial infrastructure, mobility, and healthcare tech company Siemens, in collaboration with AI cybersecurity expert Palo Alto Networks unveiled a verified AI-driven cybersecurity platform for industrial private 5G networks at Mobile World Congress 2026. It teams Siemens’ Private 5G infrastructure with Palo Alto Networks’ AI-driven Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW).

Passing extensive testing to verify high availability, network resilience, and uninterrupted operations, the collaborators believe their offering will enable manufacturers to meet diverse industrial security requirements while maintaining the performance their AI-driven productions require. They say data-driven systems require wireless connectivity for a plethora of sensors and mobile assets, making private 5G essential infrastructure. Simultaneously, cyberattacks cause downtimes and/or compromise worker safety. Also, regulations like NIS2 mandate the use of defense-in-depth security architectures meeting IEC 62443 standards. They claim off-the-shelf IT security solutions often create performance bottlenecks or fail to address OT-specific threats.

The collaboration combines three elements. These include:

1. Siemens’ private 5G Infrastructure provides deterministic wireless connectivity for mobile and moving assets with built-in security features protecting the core network infrastructure. It promises data sovereignty and low-latency communication independent of mobile network operators.
2. Siemens’ SINEC Security Monitor software that provides passive, non-intrusive, and continuous on-premises security monitoring during production. The monitor identifies communication anomalies, unauthorized devices, or potential threats without impacting production operations.
3. Palo Alto Networks Firewall provides Layer 7 security and OT protocol analysis that’s optimized for industrial environments. It provides deep packet inspection for OT protocols while maintaining low latency necessary for real-time control applications. This includes protection against malware, intrusion attempts, and data exfiltration, reportedly without the performance degradation typical of off-the-shelf security tools.

In conclusion, the verified platform meets IEC 62443 requirements for industrial automation and control systems security while maintaining the performance characteristics essential for time-critical production applications. For deeper details, peruse Siemens’ Private Industrial 5G overview. For further insights, also visit the Palo Alto Networks website.

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