5G network can be misused

The leading telecom operators are announcing faster introduction of 5G networks in hundreds of cities and showcasing better and faster connectivity, but the flip side of the story is often overlooked. 5G network can be misused for drug trafficking, money laundering, terror financing as per Papers submitted at Director Generals of Police (DGPs’) meet

There are warnings against the vulnerabilities of the high-speed 5G telecom network, according to papers submitted at a key security meet, which have noted that it can provide an excellent platform for middlemen and agents for creating linkages for crimes such as drug trafficking, human and organ trafficking, money laundering and terror financing.

The papers, written by some Indian Police Service officers, were submitted at the just-concluded conference of director generals of police and inspector general of police attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing the issues that arise along with such network systems, a few Indian Police Service (IPS) officers have submitted a report at a top cop's meeting. Warning against the many loopholes and vulnerabilities of the high-speed 5G network, the Police officials looked into several key security concerns.

The IPS officers who wrote the papers suggested that a reserved 5G bandwidth and highly secured equipment should be developed proactively for sensitive government-related communications and for military usage and only approved and authenticated firms with the least cyber risk or with maximum safety protocols should be allowed to work in for the government agencies.

The 5G network core is built on easily accessible and open Internet protocols such as HTTP and Transport Layer Security (TLS). In a Network-Slicing environment, different sub-networks will have different natures of cyber security. Keys for radio interface encryption are delivered across unsecured routes. Vulnerabilities such as IDOR (Insecure Direct Object Reference) could arise.

Secondly, the Telco cloud is vulnerable to cyber-attacks, which can compromise the security of the network and the data stored in the cloud, the papers said. There are several improvements in 5G that support such remote-control functions like drones, robotic surgery, etc. but criminals can exploit this aspect too.

The IPS officers wrote that the 5G equipment manufacturers would try to sell the valuable data to the marketers for targeted advertising and this should be monitored to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands.