Security News
As of December 2020, there were 229 million 5G subscriptions globally, which represents an astonishing 66 percent increase over last quarter - and is expected to reach 236 million globally by the end of 2020. Of those projections, 506 million 4G LTE connections will come from North America and 406 million will come from Latin America and the Caribbean.
That machine-to-machine communication, right? As you speed that up, and you speed up that attacker machine-to-machine communication, you really can start to up-level the ability to conduct these denial of service attacks. While they may be not have been necessarily as in fashion, we're seeing that the ransomware trends, and some of those more, you will probably see a resurgence or DDoS attacks is there, but you crank into, and leverage the increased speed, and the increased dependency on IoT devices in a way that we maybe haven't seen them as monetized in the past, connectivity, ransom against connectivity, rather than ransomware files.
Global cybersecurity company Positive Technologies identified several potential vulnerabilities in 5G standalone networks that could result in denial of service for customers and trouble for network operators. In the new report, "5G Standalone core security research," researchers analyzed the security of the network architecture, interaction of network elements, and subscriber authentication and registration procedures.
Some 5G networks are at risk of attack thanks to "Long-standing vulnerabilities" in core protocols, according to infosec researchers at Positive Technologies. "The stack of technologies in 5G potentially leaves the door open to attacks on subscribers and the operator's network. Such attacks can be performed from the international roaming network, the operator's network, or partner networks that provide access to services," the biz said.
Inseego introduced four new 5G fixed wireless solutions designed to meet the needs of users in almost any location, from underserved rural areas to dense urban environments, from residential settings to business premises. Named the Wavemaker series, this is one of the industry's broadest line-ups of 5G fixed wireless products.
Vulnerabilities in the protocols used by standalone 5G network implementations could expose users to information theft, impersonation, and other types of attacks, Positive Technologies warned on Wednesday. Current 5G networks are non-standalone implementations that are based on the existing 4G LTE infrastructure, but wireless carriers are expected to invest heavily into transitioning to standalone implementations in the next few years.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet approved a bill Wednesday that would require companies involved in setting up critical infrastructure such as high-speed 5G networks to guarantee that their equipment can't be used for sabotage, espionage or terrorism. The bill, which now goes to parliament, seeks to address concerns that vendors such as Chinese tech company Huawei might pose a security risk if they have access to core parts of the German telecoms network.
The findings form the basis of a new "5G Standalone core security research" published by London-based cybersecurity firm Positive Technologies today, exactly six months after the company released its "Vulnerabilities in LTE and 5G Networks 2020" report in June detailing high impact flaws in LTE and 5G protocols. Deployed either in standalone or non-standalone modes depending on their reliance on 4G Evolved Packet Core technology, the 5G mobile network is a framework consisting of as many as nine network functions that are responsible for registering subscribers, managing sessions and subscriber profiles, storing subscriber data, and connecting the users to the internet via a base station.
Although the Cybersecurity Insights Report finds that "Standalone 5G is more secure than any previous network generation," fewer than 10% of respondents said they feel that their security posture is fully prepared for the rollout of 5G. "The move to 5G is highly influenced by the business, which means that business and IT leaders need to collaborate on 5G strategies and implementation,'' the report stated."Digital transformation is reshaping how organizations think about technology investments. In terms of 5G use cases, nearly 36% cited improvements to Internet of Things/operational technology/industrial IoT, followed by data privacy, and broader network coverage.
Most professionals say their organizations are concerned about cybersecurity risks related to 5G adoption, according to a Deloitte poll. "Of course, with all the technological advancement 5G enables, the cyber threat landscape and attack surface areas expand considerably. Working proactively to mitigate cybersecurity risks posed by 5G adoption is the hallmark of a well-designed program."