Cyber Threat Readiness in the Age of 5G

Jul 11, 2021 / Kron

It is only a matter of time before the digital transformation the whole business world experienced in the 21st century, takes another step forward. The frequently mentioned 5G technology is paving the way for a new age. This technology, which is known to increase the speed and bandwidth of mobile technology infrastructures, and also strengthen the Internet of Things (IoT) networks, will be used in a different way in every field, from companies to public institutions, and from manufacturing facilities to our homes.

Incorporating a series of complex internet protocols and standard applications and offering a much faster wireless internet network compared to previous versions, 5G technology allows users to perform operations with less latency. Offering 60 to 120 times less latency under optimal conditions when compared to 4G technology, 5G is also expected to strengthen VR and autonomous vehicle connections.

On the other hand, as a result of the significant evolution of wireless internet connections, 5G also brings with it significant cyber threats and cyber risks for organizations. Incorporating more backdoor applications and therefore more vulnerabilities compared to past mobile network technologies, 5G is likely to cause data security problems that should strictly be inspected in terms of cybersecurity.

At this point, organizations must enable a series of access security measures to ensure readiness against cyber threats in the age of 5G and protect their data stacks. Such readiness requires you to thoroughly analyze the possible cyber threats caused by 5G technology and be aware of what you need to protect against.

Cyber Risks Caused by 5G Technology

The main cybersecurity and access security risks to be faced by organizations with the use of 5G technology can be grouped under three main headings according to the “Potential Threat Vectors to 5G Infrastructure” study, prepared jointly by the US Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency, the National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence: “Policy and Standards”, “Supply Chain”, and “5G System Architecture”:

Policy and Standards

The fact that the fields of application and the standards of 5G technology are very new can cause a wide variety of data breaches. First of all, the policies regarding 5G, which will build the communication infrastructure of the future, need to be established based on transparency and consensus at an international level, and should incorporate a complete implementation of cybersecurity protocols.

Whenever an organization configures basic security protocols and authorized account controls as optional to reduce costs, it intentionally or unintentionally risks having more vulnerable networks. This may give rise to data security problems. Inevitably, trying to reduce costs by avoiding access security protocols in the relevant stage will lead to much larger financial problems in the future.

Supply Chain

The supply chain is one of the areas that is most frequently exposed to cyber threats in the age of 5G. The advanced speed, large coverage area, and remarkable bandwidth of 5G technology is very valuable for cyber attackers. The activities of threat actors such as sabotage, manipulation, data intervention, and spying can lead to a surge in data and intellectual property theft incidents on supply chains in direct relation with the technical infrastructure of 5G.

Moreover, the probability of external intervention into the supply chain increases as billions of electronic devices switch to 5G technology. In particular, companies with a significant international market share in telecommunication networks are at increased risk due to their insufficiently secured infrastructures, and the supply chain attacks that they face. Institutions that purchase 5G equipment from companies under data security threat during supply chain attacks may therefore have to deal with the problem of data interception in the future.

5G System Architecture

5G system architecture is one of the leading starting points of cyber threats in this new age. Using more ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) components than the previous generations of wireless networks, 5G may facilitate the intrusion of malicious actors into internal networks. Also, as 5G enhances the IoT infrastructure, the number of devices connected to the network can be expected to increase and such increase can be expected to lead to vulnerabilities by causing complexities in the 5G architecture.

It is clear that the combination of these factors will lead to data breaches in the near future as a result of various attacks, particularly in relation to authorized accounts and privileged access. For this very reason, implementing a comprehensive Privileged Access Management solution has become of critical importance in the age of 5G to ensure authorized access account security.

Privileged Access Management (PAM)

Single Connect, Kron’s Privileged Access Management (PAM) features a modular structure and effectively protects your corporate data against cyber threats in the age of 5G. Single Connect’s Privileged Session Manager is one of the modules that aims to protect data based on the principle of restricting authorized account access, and allows only authorized users to execute all the operations on the network.

The Password Vault verifies authorized sessions and uses its password vault function to prevent passwords from being stolen by malicious actors, and stores the passwords of authorized users, minimizing the probability of external intervention in the supply chain.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) allows Single Connect to authenticate and confirm authorized accounts by requesting location and time information. Preventing intrusion into internal networks with its real-time control feature, MFA is one of the most important tools to prevent cyber threats in the age of 5G.

Single Connect’s Data Masking and Database Access Management features are very effective in preventing breaches caused by the weaknesses of 5G system architecture. Logging all the operations performed by database managers in the enterprise’s network, the module both checks the authorized accounts that can access the database and easily identifies unauthorized access attempts.

Kron aims to secure your network infrastructure against cyber threats in this new age. We protect your corporate data with our end-to-end Privileged Access Management platform, Single Connect, by inspecting authorized account access and help you monitor all the operations executed on the network. Single Connect is a time-tested PAM solution featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for PAM report that includes the leading global PAM providers.

If you seek protection against the potential threats of the 5G world, you can ensure access security for authorized accounts using our Single Connect platform.