5G to be more prone to cyber threats

Technology has facilitated multiple breakthroughs, especially in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and its integration of software and network defined securities along with the strong video analytics, which captures rich information- including meta-data, visual, audio, spatial and temporal data.

With the launch of 5G services in India, it will play a key role in augmenting this automation trend, through data transmission at remarkable speeds. Industries have been forced to reduce human interaction in their operations as a result of the pandemic and today rely more on remote work.

This has made automation take center stage across several industry verticals. Industries and manufacturing facilities are now advancing to their next frontier in order to scale up efficiency levels.

Today enterprises are in the race for implementing 5G, the tougher task is to build the infrastructure that can secure the network. The crowd behavior can be analyzed and predicted by extracting a variety of intelligence. Because of any software’s inherent vulnerabilities, there are higher chances of cyber threats on the 5G ecosystem which are not just confined to individuals but to nations as well.

We can expect 5G speeds at a scale of 10GBPS, which is expected to provide low latency communication which is ultra-reliable. This will reduce the time taken to communicate information while increasing the rate at which information gets transferred, allowing millions of devices to be connected. The adoption of any new technology comes with its share of challenges in execution and adoption.

There are various types of potential cybersecurity risks that are associated with 5G and they are:

1. Increase in the attack surface

2. Need to bridge the gap between old and new networks

3. Lack of network partitioning due to dynamic spectrum sharing

With 5G, greater capabilities are now possible, hence it is vital to concentrate on the security of devices and apps. An expert said, it would be unwise to construct 5G on top of a shoddy cybersecurity foundation, like the foolish man who built his house on sand.

This is the time when organisations need to prepare their defences against potential cyberattacks through 5G, break free from unreliable 5G services, and develop a strategy for maintaining cyber readiness across the whole 5G ecosystem.