Mobile phones have become a vital part of our lives. They have formed a connecting link between the human and their essential needs such as business, education, entertainment etc. Starting from dialler phones, they have transformed to smart phones with all the technical capabilities of a computer. Almost every action possible in a computer can be done through mobile phones. As the phone evolved, the network connection systems have also improved significantly. Starting from 1G, it has now reached 5G. 1G is probably the first generation of the wireless cellular technology. They were just an analog communication formed in the year 1980. After a short period of time, the network companies found a better version, 2G which is completely digital.
People have progressed and the technology has developed. Now we are witnessing the 5th generation of smartphone communication network. 5G brings out new capabilities and are useful for people, business and society.
5G is meant to change the concept of network connection. They open up to the latest ground breaking solution that reaches millions of people. People around the world will be connected securely to each other and share informations which reduces incidents like road accidents using lifesaving applications.
Objectives of 5G
- Improvement in the electricity grids and thereby reducing carbon emission.
- Connected vehicles to mitigate road collisions.
- Easy accessibility to emergency services.
- Sensors which helps to detect natural calamities.
5G is operated using radio frequencies and are connected to smart phones, Wi-Fi and satellite communications. Many countries around the world have started investing in the 5G technology, mainly Asian countries. Developed features in 5G services are prone to cyber security threats. Since this network functions by connecting both visual and virtual, the risk of cyber threats is on the rise. To overcome these huddles, the developers are planning to create a strong security regime which protects both 5G networks as well as other IoT devices that uses 5G.
5G services can perform more advanced activities. Starting from smart homes and smart offices, they expand their development in large scale industries. Census says that these services found to increase the competitiveness of many economics around the world.
The major drawback of 5G technology is the shadow issue which increases the possibility of cyber-attacks. Apart from the existing strategies of cyber threats, they are also susceptible to new approaches of the attack. The cyber experts have pointed out 3 reasons why 5G systems are vulnerable to security risk.
5G system works on the basis of three different functions, they include decomposed function, virtualized function and distributed network function. These functions mutually connect to the virtual and real world. Due to these open convergences, they are vulnerable to cyber-attacks and points out the challenges in cyber security management. As these networks are interconnected, if one of the infrastructures gets compromised, then the entire chain will get affected. Apart from targeting servers and networks, they can target sensors and cameras to take them over and conduct Distributed Denial of Service attack.
Unlike server systems, they are linked to an Application Programming Interface (API). The API allows communication from in and out of the network. Unprotected API’s are prone to attacks and puts the entire system at risk. Examples of API attacks include SolarWinds, CCleaner and Notpetya.
Secure 5G network
The developers are working on the fix to patch these vulnerabilities. Collaborating with the government, the companies have decided to introduce zero-trust frameworks. The main features of this framework are:
- Controlling the access to all interactions.
- Regulation of interactions
- Dividing the assets through minor segments
- Regular analysis of the system.
How to protect cyber-attacks against 5G networks?
- Enabling the cyber risk reduction by analysing the chronic under investment.
- Implement safer protection software to safeguard machine learning and artificial intelligence.
- Establishing leading indicators instead of large indicators.
- Ensure the security in development and operations cycle.