5G Is Peanut Butter, Unless…

Every good thing has a hidden side, one that surfaces slowly and, often, when you least expect it. Be cautious when pushing the button on your big 5G project

- Pratima Harigunani

The funny thing about allergies is that you have to go through that swollen lip or the nasty itch before you discover – Ha! That’s one thing I cannot enjoy.

So when something totally mint-fresh hits the grocery stores or IT-shelves, this thought never pops in your mind except for hypochondriacs or consistent allergy-sufferers. How in the world are you to know if the new super-food that is making so much Instagram-buzz out there is going to hit you with a teary-eye. How in the world would you know if the amazing next big thing called 5G can hit you with a security mishap!

Bite 5G with care

If you ask Sophos Senior Vice President Sales for APJ Gavin Struthers about the vulnerabilities that may arise from a cybersecurity perspective when one thinks of 5G networks, he will not mince words and tell you that “Similar to 3G and 4G, a lack of visibility with 5G may be an issue, owing to its speed and potential to move exponentially more data, with connectivity that will surpass current broadband, visibility will be a bigger issue than ever before.”

Struthers explains that, at best, we’ll be able to see whether a device is using a 5G radio, in a 5G environment. “However, there will not be any visibility into what’s actually being transmitted over that radio, making it challenging to spot suspicious activity. We will be able to monitor 5G radio activity with a spectrometer, for example, but we won’t be able to distinguish between good versus malicious 5G activity, since we simply will not be able to see what is included in that communication path.”