The year 2020 has served up some unprecedented challenges for the human race in every aspect, with wireless connectivity more important than ever. Particularly as millions continue to work and learn remotely, our connected world of devices, vehicles, homes and cities is expanding exponentially. According to a report from GSMA and ABI Research, the number of mobile subscriptions worldwide had already reached 8.1 billion by 2017 at an annual growth rate of 5.4 percent. It’s now predicted that by 2025 the number will increase to 9.8 billion, with 3G and 4G representing 51 percent of total subscriptions and 91 percent of the total traffic generated, while 5G subscriptions are expected to exceed 849 million.
There’s no doubt that the fifth generation of connectivity will provide faster download speeds and more capacity than 3G and 4G networks when fully deployed. But until then, there are significant challenges to overcome, one of the most important of which is security. In addition to a larger attack surface as a result of the massive increase in connectivity and a greater number of devices accessing the network, new vulnerabilities have surfaced due in large part to the extension of security policies for new types of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, as well as the insufficiency of perimeter defenses. There’s also the fact that 5G networks will interoperate with legacy 3G and 4G networks, which rely on General Packet Radio Service GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP). According to a report from Positive Technologies, as long as GTP is in use, the protocol’s security issues will impact 5G networks.