It is said that emerging 5G networks can also inherit the issues that the 4G networks have which has time and again exposed to the denial-of-service and other kinds of attacks. Issues which till date have not been addressed completely.
Researchers have looked and studied the 4G LTE network in various continents from Europe to South America in the last two years and found that the diameter signalling protocol is leaving these networks open to DoS attacks and other significant cyber threats.
The Diameter signalling protocol is used for information distribution in the 4G networks and to authenticate and authorize messages. It enables the communication between elements of the internet network, which in turn allows the components, such as servers and software, to communicate with the core 4G LTE networks.
Researchers then stimulated attacks on these networks that targeted the diameter signalling protocol. The researchers found that every instance of the attack proved successful and the Dos attack was the one posing the most threat to the network.
As the world has become more interconnected, the threat landscape has expanded at a rapid rate and consequently, the consequences have become more perilous in nature. What is more concerning that in the last two years there has been no improvement in the industry in terms of strengthening the security measures in the diameter protocol.
It was also discovered that attackers could track user data and obtain sensitive subscriber information, which could lead to intercepting voice calls through bypassing restrictions on mobile services due to the existing vulnerabilities.
The World of 5G Security
Since many first-generation 5G networks are being built on top of the core 4G LTE networks, the vulnerabilities in the diameter signalling protocol will remain, which would also mean that the same security protocol would persist. Hence, subscribers who are counting on the advantages of the 5G network including network security are going to be susceptible.
Given the next generation of networks are still in their nascent stages, telecom companies should address these security issues and other 5G concern. Any attempts to implement security as an afterthought at later stages is going to cost the telecom companies a lot more since they would need to purchase additional equipment. In a worst-case scenario, operators would be stuck with long term vulnerabilities that cannot be fixed at a later point in time.
It is also recommended to monitor signal trafficking and analyze it as it moves across the networks for this the operators need to employ a special threat detection system and illegitimate activity by external hosts is detected.
Concerns of the IoT
Due to the vulnerabilities of the 4G and 5G networks, Internet of Things IoT would be rendered more susceptible to attack. Since a lot of the IoT devices use 4G or 5G networks to transmit data and connect to a corporate network and increase in DoS attack to disrupt the entire network.
Such an DoS attack can become bigger than just a slow internet connection, It could cripple smart cities which could be using various IoT devices in their daily operations.
Security concerns of the 5G
In 2019, it was reported that nation-state hackers were the biggest threat to 5G networks in Europe. Earlier this year The United States rolled out a national strategy for 5G networks.
Understanding the measure that is being taken by other countries, countries across the world might adopt a strategy that includes plans for a domestic rollout, assessing and managing the risk associated with technology and promoting the secure worldwide deployment of technology.
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