How Palo Alto Networks Prioritises AI Threat Infrastructure

As cybercriminals continue to leverage AI to execute faster and more sophisticated attacks, Palo Alto Networks is countering with its own AI-powered defence systems that process billions of threats daily.

Anand Oswal, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Network Security at Palo Alto Networks, tells Mobile Magazine at MWC Barcelona 2025 that the company is continuing to address the convergence of 5G and AI technologies, whilst protecting critical infrastructure sectors that are facing rising threats.

“We have hundreds and hundreds of researchers looking at every single threat vector that's out there,” he shares. “I tell people it's a hard job because I have to be right every day.

“On our network security platform, we are stopping approximately 30.8 billion attacks every day. Many of these attacks are new attacks that nobody has ever seen before.”

Expanding AI capabilities to tackle threats

Palo Alto Networks’ approach to innovation relies on what Anand describes as “opposition AI technology”. 

This refers to a combination of machine learning, deep learning and generative AI (Gen AI) to detect and stop emerging threats before they cause damage.

“When we have all of our security services work together in a platform centric approach, then we have what I call the network effective data,” Anand says. “The sharing of threat intelligence makes every service better. Good AI works from good data.”

Conversations around cybersecurity at MWC25 have shifted in comparison to previous years, Anand explains, noting that discussions are now focused on securing 5G infrastructure as network operators seek to monetise their investments.

He says: “I feel like this is the time that 5G and AI are converging. Everybody is talking about how they are securing 5G infrastructure and service providers are talking about how they want to monetise for consumers and enterprises, with many customers building Private 5G networks to be able to connect these critical infrastructure environments.”

In response to this shifting landscape, Palo Alto Networks announced a range of initiatives during MWC25, including a new SASE 5G product.

“We launched SASE 5G to protect 5G-enabled devices with the same set of capabilities that we have for other devices on wire to wireline,” Anand explains.

The company also revealed a significant expansion of its Private 5G partner ecosystem, partnering with the likes of Nokia, Nvidia and NTT Data.

“We believe that for Private 5G networks, the ecosystem is vitally important,” Anand explains. “We have added many more partners to help our customers to deploy Private 5G networks with ease and simplicity.”

Critical infrastructure remains a priority

As cybersecurity concerns continue across the telco industry, Anand shares how Palo Alto Networks is focusing on protecting increasingly connected critical infrastructure - which is a critical challenge for telcos.

“Everything is getting connected, including things that were previously not connected, like electrical infrastructure,” he says. “You look at factory flows and utilities and oil and gas and mining and smart cities, these are all things that we depend on.”

He adds: “We've seen cyberattacks happen to hospitals and then you can't get patients admitted to the hospital, for example. So this critical infrastructure is very important for us to be able to protect vital services.

“And even if attacks happen, it’s about quarantining the right set of things where essential services can continue with uptime because that's very important.”

As threat actors worldwide become more sophisticated with their tactics, they are also using AI to speed up attacks. To confront this, Anand explains that businesses must be prepared with the correct systems and remediation capabilities to isolate an attack.

“Our XDR product is built to be able to remediate these things in real time with the full power of automation and machine learning,” he says. “My advice is that you need to have a platform-centric approach to navigate this journey because if you have too many point products, or tools, there is too much complexity.”

He adds: “It’s about balancing the operational uptime, whilst at the same time having best-in-class security capabilities to be able to learn. That can only happen when you have a platform centric approach.”

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