International. An international report notes that 5G technology will also present vulnerabilities in its security that affect current mobile networks.
The report by telecommunications security company, Positive Technologies, called: "5G Signaling Networks: Issues of the Past That Remain Present," provides an overview of the current state of security in mobile networks and forecasts for the security of emerging 5G networks. This is the first in a series of four reports on telecommunications security, which will look at Positive Technologies' testing on the SS7, Diameter and GTP networks, including details of actual attacks by hackers and what operators can do to protect themselves.
According to the study, it is necessary to review some concepts, such as that 5G will not be affected by the existing security vulnerabilities in current mobile networks, for example. To show this fact, the report exposes key issues:
How do vulnerabilities in the SS7 and Diameter telecommunications protocols affect 5G and IoT? Will the current protocols remain relevant in the coming years? Who can be the victim of attacks against 5G networks?
"We emphasize that the risks of the past remain present, mainly because 5G networks interact with other mobile networks," said Giovani Henrique, general manager of Positive Technologies for Latin America. "Because of this reliance on legacy infrastructure, hackers can perform cross-protocol attacks by scanning for the SS7 and Diameter vulnerabilities, for example, as part of a single attack. An attack on a 5G network can begin with scanning for vulnerabilities in 3G networks to obtain subscriber identifiers (IMSI), for example. That's why protecting previous generations of networks is crucial for 5G security."
Additional threats on 5G networks
The report also looks at new threats from 5G. In addition to the risks inherited from previous networks, additional threats are emerging at the forefront. With the expansion of 5G, the main consumers of communication services will be IoT devices, and not people. IoT adoption took off after the deployment of 5G networks in several countries, but without protecting the underlying telecommunications technologies, intelligent IoT systems also cannot be kept secure.
"The biggest threat to the security of IoT devices is the denial-of-service attack," Henrique explained. "The results of our real-world tests are alarming: on all networks, be they 2G, 3G, 4G or 5G, invaders are capable of depriving subscribers of services. Smart home components or industrial equipment may become unavailable at a critical time. As 5G mobile technologies and IoT devices evolve, the threat landscape also evolves. Now, connected cars or smart city systems can be targeted by hackers."
The full report in English can be downloaded at the following link: https://positive-tech.com/storage/articles/5g-signaling-networks/5g-signaling-networks-2019-eng.pdf
