Updated on June 14, 2018
Security flaws in mobile networks can be a part of 5G networks as well. The European Union Agency for Network and Information Security has claimed that this has become more common with existing mobile networks and could already be in 5G networks. The increasing bandwidth results in a higher chance of danger and this could impact millions of unsecured devices which are connected to the network. The attackers exploit the SS7 signaling protocol that are used in 2G and 3G networks to intercept or divert text messages. Even when the flaws have been discovered and the fixes are proposed, little has changed. The denial-of-service attacks on 4G networks allowed large companies to disconnect a target’s mobile phone from the network temporarily or permanently. REST API in 5G networks means that when vulnerabilities in those protocols are found, testing tools for them will be transferable to mobile networks as well. The main concern for the ENISA is that network operators are trying to market products with 5G networks, even though they still have not corrected all the security issues. The ENISA wants to see laws and regulations change so that network operators are required to secure their signaling systems. It also suggests that government funding could be allocated to improving the security of signaling systems since poor security can causes issues like this all around the world.
