Pan African fibre optic network wholesaler, Liquid Telecom, has signed on US based network security firm Arbor Networks to help safeguard Liquid’s network from threats.

The move comes after Liquid Telecom -- which is owned by African telco Econet Wireless -- last week appointed French telecommunications systems equipment provider Ekinops to help boost the performance of its network across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia by using dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM).

And Ben Roberts, group director for network strategy at Liquid Telecom, says his company has now roped in Arbor Networks in a bid to enhance its “traffic visibility and DDoS protection”.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks come about when multiple compromised computer systems on a network are used to target a single system.

“Ensuring that our network and services are running smoothly and securely is a top priority for us. For that reason, we selected Arbor Networks for traffic visibility and DDoS protection. Their solutions are deployed globally by the world's most demanding network operators," added Roberts.

Colin Doherty, the president of Arbor Networks, said on Tuesday that through the partnership,
Liquid Telecom will be able to “leverage (on) a robust platform that delivers comprehensive network insight and intelligence, together with the ability to mitigate availability threats like DDoS”.

Meanwhile, Doherty added that Liquid Telecom’s complete range of wholesale international carrier services needed to always be “available, secure and operating”.

The value of the deal between Liquid and Arbor, though, has not been disclosed.