New Technology Alert: Do You Know These Security Concerns about 5G?

As the world progresses towards the modernization of technology, the introduction of 5G internet seemed to be a revolutionary update in terms of higher internet speeds and increased capacity.

Before 5G was introduced, 4G already seemed to be promising as it continued to meet the demands of satisfied internet users.

However, 5G was introduced shortly afterward, and many enthusiastic internet users, particularly gamers, found this new update to be revolutionary, promising even better speeds and capacity.

5G Risks

With increased technological dependency, however, come greater security risks and concerns.

Companies employing 5G internet need to be aware of these concerns before implementing and integrating them into their systems.

With the introduction of new technologies, the security risk for operating these technologies continues to evolve. It has created vulnerabilities in the system that could be very risky for companies employing these new technologies.

There are a few core risk areas for 5G networks which include:-

Network Slicing

What exactly is network slicing?

It essentially allows mobile users to create virtual networks tailored specifically to the customer’s requirements and needs.

These network slices exist within the software and can be altered and created quickly.

These slice operators can use their own software and systems to combine into a splice.

This gives rise to potential security concerns like inter slice security or compromised slice by employing all the capacity on shared hardware.

Heterogeneous Network

5G network can allow individual networks accessed by different organizations to work together with the exclusion of terrestrial networks.

The main implications concern whether the network has been put together properly and if the security levels maintained are consistent.

Threat Surface

The new 5G network has an extended range and will have a lot more base stations.

With more base stations, there will inevitably be many more devices connected to the network, which gives rise to another security threat. There will be a number of IoT devices connected to the network, which will make it more likely for these devices to be attacked and should be secured.

IoT devices usually have very low-security standards, and it is very important to secure these devices from any attackers.

Increased risk in switching between networks

When reliable 5G signals aren’t available, you’re forced to change to 4G or 3G signals, and this gives rise to another security threat which can be risky.

When a 5G network switches to a 4G or 3G network, it gets exposed to unaddressed vulnerabilities from the prior generation’s protocol.

As you’re forced to make the switch to a previous network, the architecture relies on a handover between the two networks.

Is 5G more secure than 4G and 3G?

With the development of the 5G network, people seem to raise safety concerns about the new and improved network.

Many people, having been satisfied with 4G networks, raise concerns as to which network would be considered safest in terms of any potential security breaches.

5G supposedly has better encryption than 4G and 3G networks but would be considered the safest network once the technological issues and concerns are addressed and catered to.