i3 - September/October 2019 - 14

Tech

By Murray Slovick

A T EC H TO WATC H

hen 4G cellular service was introduced in 2010,
it brought the fastest wireless speeds commercially available. 5G, the next-generation network
now being rolled out, is 100 times faster than 4G and can
support diverse requirements for latency, throughput,
capacity and availability, enabling brand new services for
smart cities, smart homes, wearables, connected cars,
health care services and a plethora of IoT functions.

NEW CTA
REPORTS ON 5G
5G Impact
on Industries

How will 5G intersect
with U.S. industries
impacting their processes and offerings?

5G U.S.
Market Impact

A look at the roadmap
for 5G deployment
including edge
devices and services,
and the impact of 5G
on the economy.

5G will also enable entirely new applications in virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence (AI), while also letting users stream higher
quality video and engage in real-time multiplayer gaming. In health care, 5G
will help with the faster transfer of large patient files, remote surgery and
remote patient monitoring via IoT devices, and enable the capture and sharing of our personal data.
But there is a potential downside, too. The IoT is a major avenue for
cyberattacks and since 5G will enable IoT networks to be much larger, with
a vastly increased quantity of devices and an elevated use of the cloud, we
can reasonably expect to have to defend against more security threats and
broader, multifaceted attack possibilities.
Fortunately, security is a top architectural priority for 5G developers. For
starters, all data sent over 5G is encrypted, building on the strong security
characteristics that already exist in the 4G system that was designed to protect the voice, video and data traffic being carried. Devices and the network
will mutually authenticate each other and use integrity-protected signaling.
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New Security Requirements

A distinct key feature of the 5G system architecture is network slicing, which precisely
addresses the needs of specific groups and even
individual customers. Current one-size-fits-all
networks cannot achieve this. Because 5G networks can be organized into these unique
slices, each virtual network slice requires security capabilities based on the needs of different
usage scenarios. As potential attack vectors
increase, each network slice needs device
authentication ensuring that devices intended
for one network slice are approved but prevented from running on another slice.
5G also will provide a new set of visibility
and control elements to help operators protect
their networks and customers. One example is
the use of application level probes that travel
through the network to get a clear picture of
how an application is behaving.
Compared to 4G, 5G is a more secure standard with more stringent testing requirements and security obligations. The technical
specification for the 5G security architecture
and procedures defines the security features
and mechanisms for the 5G system, and the
security procedures performed within the 5G
system, including 5G New Radio (NR) and
the global standard for a unified, more capable 5G wireless air interface.
Defense teams also will employ anomaly
detection using packet capture, big data analysis
and machine learning to identify threats not
spotted by other protective measures. When
embedded into network switches and routers it
turns those devices into security sensors.
5G offers many benefits, such as enhanced
speed and performance, lower latency and better
efficiency. As with all new technology, there are
security and privacy risks. But rest assured, considerable steps and countermeasures are in place
to make the 5G system a trustworthy platform to
inspire consumer's confidence.

Science Photo Library/Getty Images

Making 5G Secure

This makes it extremely difficult for an unauthorized party to decrypt and read the information that is communicated over the air.
During the early stages of 5G, vulnerabilities
found in 3G and 4G were addressed where
networks could be spoofed and sent false signaling messages to obtain the International
Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and location of a device and use this to intercept voice
calls and text messages.

I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

9/9/19 6:14 PM

i3 - September/October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i3 - September/October 2019