What Does 5G Mean For Cybersecurity?

The buzz around 5G is reaching a fevered pitch – barely a day goes by where it isn’t in the news. We have heard about the data capacity and speed increases, lower latency, and lower power consumption.

The Ericsson Mobility Report 2020 shows how the impact of Covid-19 has led to the network’s crucial role in society. The report expects the global number of 5G subscriptions to top 2.8 billion by the end of 2025. In India, 5G is expected to represent around 18 percent of mobile subscriptions at the end of 2025.

It also states that in India, the projected value of the 5G-enabled digitalization revenues will be approximately USD 17 billion by 2030. With 5G being a platform for innovation it will enable the development of new services for consumers, enterprises, and industry, including large-scale IoT use cases.

BUT WHAT EXACTLY IS 5G?

When we spoke with Dorothy Stanley, IEEE Member and Chair of the IEEE 802.11 Working Group, she pointed out that confusion stems from the term ‘5G’ being used to refer to several ideas interchangeably: “Is 5G a vision? A set of services and data rates that are a goal to be accomplished, requiring multiple technologies? Or something that’s tied only to cellular carriers and what they can deliver?”