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My latest opinion articles
Open RAN May Be the Future of 5G, but Can We Keep It Secure?
It's been a year of contradictions for the telecommunications industry.
Like most sectors, it has been heavily impacted by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a slowdown in global 5G roll-outs being a notable result. Geopolitical conflicts have continued to muddy the market, with governments playing a more active...
Cybersecurity and Safety in the 5G-Enabled Smart-Everything World
Neil Harbisson calls himself a cyborg. Without the antenna implanted in his skull, he would not be able to see colour of any kind. Born with achromatopsia, a condition of total colourblindness that affects 1 in every 30 000 people, Harbisson's physical faculties are augmented by cyber technology to...
Will Telcos Lose the Edge Computing Battle as Well?
For many end-users of today's communications technology, the cloud is a somewhat mystical concept, a digital equivalent of aether. Most think of it as a formless abstraction "up there" when, in fact, the cloud is rooted in the ground. Or the seabed.
Despite rapid advances in satellite connection, almost all...
What COVID-19 Taught Us About the Need for 5G
There are many adjectives that could be used to describe the global outbreak of COVID-19, but perhaps the simplest might be: fast.
The disease has spread quicker than most people can mentally digest. By nature, humans process linearly. This pandemic has been a lesson in exponential thinking for the common...
Unlocking the Future – Why Virtualization Is the Key to 5G
Depending on who you speak to, 5G is either humankind’s greatest imminent blessing or its greatest imminent curse. Still in its infancy, and not yet commercially standardized, this technology has already been the most polarizing advancement we have ever seen in communication.
Consumers worldwide are captivated by promises of super-fast...
Will 5G and Society 5.0 Mark a New Era in Human Evolution?
In their outstanding book, Wicked and Wise, Alan Watkins and Ken Wilber look at some of the most pressing ‘wicked problems’ facing the human race. ‘Wicked problems,’ they suggest, are difficult to define, but they are essentially unsolvable in the usual scientific sense.
The authors go on: wicked problems, such...
Opportunity and Cybersecurity in the Age of 5G
The human will to innovate is seemingly relentless. The history of our species is one of continual development, with the last 350 years, in particular, representing staggering technological progress.
The first industrial revolution mechanized production using natural elements like water. The second revolution used electricity to enable mass production; the...
Collaboration: The Unexpected Key to Success in Canada’s 5G
In 1967, Lynn Margulis, a young biologist, published a paper that challenged more than a hundred years of evolutionary theory. It proposed that millions of years ago, the eukaryotes emerged not from competition, as neo-Darwinism asserts, but from collaboration.
Margulis’ research showed how single-celled lifeforms working together created an entirely...
The Quantum Computing Threat to 5G Security
Recently, in the science journal Nature, Google claimed ‘quantum supremacy’ saying that its quantum computer is the first to perform a calculation that would be practically impossible for a classical machine. This quantum computing breakthrough brings us closer to the arrival of functional quantum systems which will have a...
IIoT and Trust and Convenience: A Potentially Deadly Combination
When microwave ovens first arrived on the market in 1967 they were met with public skepticism. Perhaps it was because, not long before, the same technology now promising to safely cook consumers’ evening meals was the backbone of a military radar. Perhaps it was the $495 price tag (more...
5G Network: A Quantum Leap in Connectivity – and Cyber Threats
The timeline of human history is marked by inflection points of major technological advancement. The plow, the printing press, the telegraph, the steam engine, electricity, the telephone, the internet: each of these breakthroughs precipitated tectonic shifts in how people lived and worked. Now, in the early part of the...
5G Innovation Zones in Canada for Launching AI and 5G in Tandem
In my previous post I argued that if Canada wants to succeed with its AI-focused innovation agenda, it should also be at the forefront of 5G innovation and development. Canada could get ahead in the global 5G race not by being the first to 5G, but by being the...
5G Health Risks – Health, Wealth and Tin Foil Hats
The rollout of 5G is one of the most anticipated events in humanity’s technological history. But what about the 5G health concerns?
It’s the night before Halloween in 1938 and, as the tale goes, radio audiences tuning into Orson Welles’ reading of War of the Worlds are driven to panic.
Apparently...
My latest technology articles
5G in Manufacturing – 5G and Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) for Industrial Automation
In the recent report by IHS Markit - "The 5G Economy - How 5G will contribute to the global economy" - researchers claimed that manufacturing will garner almost $4.7 trillion in sales enablement by 2035. Or 36% of the $13.2 trillion total opportunity of 5G by 2035. Manufacturing will...
Introduction to 5G Core Service-Based Architecture (SBA) Components
The interest in 5G and mIoT is exploding. It's exciting to see so many IT and cybersecurity professionals in my network trying to learn more about 5G and related technologies.
In addition to my usual articles about the societal impacts of these innovations, I'll start a series of articles introducing...
LoRaWAN Security 101 (Non-5G IoT Connectivity Options)
I get accused of focusing too much on 5G as the only future IoT connectivity option. I do write a lot about how 5G will revolutionize our society, become the most critical of critical infrastructures and about security threats with 5G. I see 5G, with its low latency, high...
Zigbee Security 101 (Non-5G IoT Connectivity Options)
Zigbee technology introduction
Zigbee is wireless PAN (Personal Area Network) technology developed to support automation, machine-to-machine communication, remote control and monitoring of IoT devices. It evolved from IEEE 802.15.4 wireless standard and supported by the ZigBee Alliance.
IEEE 802.15.4 standard determines specifications for the physical and data link layer and Zigbee...
NFC Security 101 (Non-5G IoT Connectivity Options)
NFC is a short range two-way wireless communication technology that enables simple and secure communication between electronic devices embedded with NFC microchip. NFC technology operates in 13.56 megahertz and supports 106, 212, or 424 Kbps throughput. There are three available modes of NFC communication:
Read/write (e.g. for reading tags in...
RFID Security 101 (Non-5G IoT Connectivity Options)
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology commonly used for identification, status administration and management of different objects. It is important for people identification, as it is commonly deployed in the latest biometric passports. It operates in several frequency bands like Low frequency band from 125 kHz to 134 kHz, High...
Wi-Fi Security 101 (Non-5G IoT Connectivity Options)
The Wi-Fi represents wireless technology that includes the IEEE 802.11 family of standards (IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, etc.). Within 50m range, it operates in 2.4 GHz and 5GHz frequency bands,.
This technology was developed for wireless networking of computer devices and is commonly called...
Bluetooth Security 101 (Non-5G IoT Connectivity Options)
Bluetooth is short-range wireless communications technology based on the IEEE 802.15.1 protocol. It works in a crowded license free 2.4 GHz frequency band and shares this resource with many other technologies.
Bluetooth is the optimal solution for establishing small wireless networks called Piconets, by connecting two Bluetooth devices. One of...
Smart Home / Smart Building Connectivity Options and Their Cybersecurity
In a recent session on smart building cybersecurity, a student cheekily asked me "How did we ever connect anything before 5G?" At that moment I realized I might have been overdoing my 5G cheerleading recently. To atone, here are the key performance and cybersecurity attributes of the most commonly...
Introduction to 3GPP and 3GPP 5G Releases 15, 16 and 17
In a major milestone for 5G, 3GPP finalized the Release 16 in July - its second set of specifications for 5G New Radio (NR) technology. As a second article in my series of 5G 101 articles, this is a good opportunity to review the 3GPP process and major 5G-related...
Does the positive review of Huawei UDG source code quality mean that Huawei 5G is secure and reliable?
No, no it doesn’t. Huawei's code might as well be extremely secure. Their code is certainly the most scrutinized. But the recent UDG source code review is not an evidence of security.
ERNW, an independent IT security service provider in Germany, recently performed a technical review / audit of Huawei’s...
5G Network Slicing Technology: A Primer
Hyped as the technology that will transform the world, 5G is moving past the buzzword stage with first implementations coming to life in 2019. Nations are racing to 5G with such fervor that it now became one of the hottest hot-button geopolitical issues.
With latency as low as 1 ms...
The Quantum Computing Threat to 5G Security
Recently, in the science journal Nature, Google claimed ‘quantum supremacy’ saying that its quantum computer is the first to perform a calculation that would be practically impossible for a classical machine. This quantum computing breakthrough brings us closer to the arrival of functional quantum systems which will have a...
Latest industry news
U.S. lawmakers introduce bill targeting Huawei for industrial espionage
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers today introduced in Senate a bill aimed "To impose sanctions with respect to foreign telecommunications companies engaged in...
Bell Canada to pause 5G launch due to COVID-19
On Bell's BCE Inc (BCE) Q1 2020 Results Conference Call on Thursday new Bell's President and CEO Mirko Bibic said: "We are ready with...
TeraGo commences 5G fixed wireless technical trials in Toronto
TeraGo Inc. (“TeraGo” or the “Company”) (TSX: TGO, www.terago.ca) is a Canadian managed cloud and connectivity solutions company. It owns a national spectrum portfolio...
Report: Inquiry into the deployment, adoption and application of 5G in AU
Australian government's committee - The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts - has issued a new report on adoption of...
3GPP delays releases 16 and 17 for three months
In response to COVID-19 3GPP has delayed the next two 5G standards releases - releases 16 and 17 - by three months.
3GPP Release 16...
Huawei Greenlit for U.K.’s 5G Network
The U.K. government greenlit Huawei for a limited role in the U.K.'s fifth-generation telecommunications networks. This is a blow for American efforts of the...
Rogers begins 5G rollout in Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal
Rogers announced it is starting to roll out Canada’s first 5G network in downtown Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal so it is ready when...
ENISA published “Threat Landscape of 5G Networks”
ENISA, the EU's always excellent cybersecurity watchdog, published "Threat Landscape of 5G Networks", a report on threats relating to 5G networks.
The report presents...
Huawei releases its position paper on cyber security
Today Huawei released its position paper on cyber security.
The paper is an excellent summary of 5G security risks, latest standards and industry developments...
5G Will Have Significant Positive Impacts for Canadians
Cities and rural communities across Canada will see significant economic and quality-of-life benefits as 5G is deployed.
According to a new report commissioned by the...
Canadian Intelligence Agencies Disagree on Huawei Ban – Media
According to a recent media report, Canadian key intelligence agencies - the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) -...
Rogers Opens First 5G-Powered Smart Campus at UBC
Rogers Communications, together with the University of British Columbia (UBC), announced the launch of what it claims to be Canada’s first 5G-powered smart campus...
Ericsson Extends 5G Security Partnership with Concordia University
Ericsson has extended a 5G security partnership with Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, through a new industrial research chair awarded by the Natural Sciences...
ENCQOR 5G Launches First Public mmWave Service in Canada
ENCQOR 5G (Evolution of Networked Services through a Corridor in Québec and Ontario for Research and Innovation) industry partnership announced that Canada's first publicly...
GSMA Report Highlights North America’s Global 5G Leadership
A new GSMA report highlights North America's global 5G leadership. The report - The Mobile EconomyNorth America 2019 - part of GSMA’s ongoing Mobile...
Officials from 32 countries gather in Prague to discuss 5G security
Security officials from EU nations, Japan, the United States and Australia gathered in Prague on Thursday and Friday to discuss 5G cybersecurity threats.
The two-day...
Bloomberg: Vodafone found backdoors in Huawei 5G gear
For years U.S. and some of its allies are claiming that Huawei should not be trusted and that the Chinese company is likely to...
US praises Germany’s 5G security standard for network providers
The top US cybersecurity policy diplomat, Rob strayer, praised Germany’s strict security standards for 5G network providers on Wednesday. The requirements include sections that...
WP: How China’s Huawei took the lead over U.S. companies in 5G
Excellent article today from the Washington Post: How China’s Huawei took the lead over U.S. companies in 5G technology
Huawei, still the only 5G equipment...
Germany’s successful 5G spectrum sale
Germany’s auction of 5G spectrums reached 5 billion euros yesterday, in excess of expert estimates. The high price will mean that whilst the German...
Swisscom debuts Europe’s first 5G service
Swisscom can claim to be the first European Telecom to have introduced commercial 5G. In co-operation with Qualcomm, Swisscom’s new 5G service will be...
Verizon beats Korea in launching 5G
Verizon put out a lot of effort in becoming the first telecom in the world to launch a commercial 5G network on April 3rd....
German 5G auction at €3.7 billion
German 5G auction ended this week with the sum of highest bids reaching €3.723 billion. Showing the level of commitment to 5G, but also...
£6.8bn impact to UK if Huawei 5G banned
Mobile UK, the UK mobile network operators' trade association, issued a report "The Impact on the UK of a Restriction on Huawei in the...
US DoD warns about US losing the 5G war
The Defense Innovation Board of the US Department of Defense issued a new study outlining the risks America faces if China takes leadership in...
France defines 5G security requirements
France’s parliament is debating a bill that would see the country establish stricter security rules around 5G networks.
The bill would require all 5G network...
Dutch security agency warns against Chinese, Russian tech
The Dutch security service advised the government on Tuesday not to use technology from countries with active cyber-hacking campaigns against the Netherlands, such as...
Defiant Huawei reports 25% profit growth
Huawei released its 2018 Annual Report today. Despite the growing 5G-related geopolitical spat it has found itself in and U.S. efforts to curtail its...
UK government issues a warning of Huawei
UK government’s Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre (HCSEC) Oversight Board just published its fifth annual report for the Cabinet Secretary.
The board, which is chaired...
EU recommends approach to 5G security
Today the European Commission (EC) has recommended a set of operational steps and measures to ensure a high l Add Formevel of cybersecurity of...
AT&T ‘Fake 5G E’ mobile network slower than competitor’s 4G
Open Signal, a company which specialized in assessing the capabilities of mobile networks worldwide has recently tested and found that AT&T’s "5G E" mobile...
Germany begins sales of 5G spectrum
Disregarding lawsuits and other delaying attempts from Germany’s big 3 Telecommunications corporations, Germany’s Federal Network Agency has seen fit to begin the auctioning of...
NATO Will Assess Potential Security Implications of 5G Gear
On 14th March 2019, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the launch of his Annual Report for 2018 touched on security and geopolitical concerns...
Germany Will Define Its Own Security Standards for 5G Security
After Washington last week warned Germany that it would scale back intelligence data-sharing with Berlin if China’s Huawei was allowed to participate in German...
GSA – 5G Security Primer Whitepaper
The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) today issued a 5G Security Primer whitepaper. The whitepaper provides a top-level overview of the security considerations and...
Huawei Cyber Security Transparency Center Opens in Brussels
On March the 5th, 2019, Huawei opened a Cyber Security Transparency Center in Brussels as part of its 2 billion USD Cybersecurity project, to...
About me
Marin Ivezic is a Cybersecurity & Privacy Partner in PwC Canada focused on risks of emerging technologies. He leads PwC’s global 5G cybersecurity efforts as well as industrial, IoT and critical infrastructure cybersecurity services in the region.
[This is a personal blog with guest contributors. All information is provided on an as-is basis. Any views or opinions represented here are personal and belong solely to the author. See Terms of Use.]
How 5G Will Transform Economy and Society
Since the dawn of the 21st Century, the ways in which people and organizations that use the Internet experience, perceive and act in the world is radically changing. We interact with physical objects and systems well beyond our sight and comprehension. Our cars, homes, factories and public transportation are controlled increasingly by computer chips and sensors. This interconnectedness already exceeds much of last century’s science fiction imaginings, but is poised to accelerate even more dramatically with the advent of 5G.
Popular telecom carrier driven expectations about the speed and capacity of 5G consumer mobile service tend to obscure the broader...
5G Network: A Quantum Leap in Connectivity – and Cyber Threats
The timeline of human history is marked by inflection points of major technological advancement. The plow, the printing press, the telegraph, the steam engine, electricity, the telephone, the internet: each of these breakthroughs precipitated tectonic shifts in how people lived and worked. Now, in the early part of the 21st century, we stand witness to the birth of a new industrial revolution built on 5th generation cellular technology - 5G network.
As the name implies, 5G network follows a developmental chain. First came 1G, the first generation of cellular communication that freed us to make voice calls without being tethered...
Geopolitics of 5G and 5G-Connected Massive & Critical IoT
Emerging Technology and Geopolitics of 5G
There are several reasons emerging technology is a highly competitive industry, notwithstanding the race for intellectual property that can be licensed by burgeoning markets for revenue. A first-mover advantage is often a way to lock in relationships that can lead to long-term infrastructure commitments, integration support services, and service delivery platform development. As the adage goes, “Whoever owns the platform, owns the customer.” This race to be the first to establish technological platforms and lock-in their customers is increasingly becoming politicized. And 5G, the next generation of cellular mobile communications technology, is the best...
Cyber-Kinetic Risk – Unintended Consequence of IoT in a 5G World
Getting smart about security in smart systems
Smart used to be something we called people or pets. It wasn't a term one would use to describe one's hairbrush. That is changing, of course, in an era of accelerating digital transformation. Now we have smart homes, smart cities, smart grids, smart refrigerators and, yes, even smart hairbrushes. What's not so smart, though, is the way the cybersecurity and cyber-kinetic security risks of these systems are often overlooked, and with new horizon technologies like 5G, these problems are set to grow exponentially.
Cyber-physical systems and the smartification of our world
Cyber-connected objects have become...
Cyber-Kinetic Security and Privacy Threats in Smart Cities
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities. The UN estimates that by 2050 that proportion will be 68% - more than 6 billion people living in high-density conditions. This raises significant challenges. What is the best way to ensure that human needs are met in a fair and equitable way? How will we face challenges like resource strain, waste and pollution management, traffic congestion and connectivity?
In response to these wicked problems, cities are increasingly relying on smart technologies to foster greater efficiency and sustainable growth. These interventions do not, however, come without their own complications. Just...
Three Views of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Future
If you’ve read the many predictions about the future of AI, you’ve likely found them to be wildly different. They range from AI spelling doom for humanity, to AI ushering in Golden Age of peace, harmony and culture, to AI producing barely a blip on society’s path toward ever-greater technological achievement.
Those three views – dystopian, utopian and organic – present issues we need to consider as we move deeper toward an AI-integrated future. Yet they also contain exaggerations and false assumptions that we need to separate from reality.
The Dystopian View of AI Future
Those with a dystopian view of emerging technologies...
Collaboration: The Unexpected Key to Success in Canada’s 5G
In 1967, Lynn Margulis, a young biologist, published a paper that challenged more than a hundred years of evolutionary theory. It proposed that millions of years ago, the eukaryotes emerged not from competition, as neo-Darwinism asserts, but from collaboration.
Margulis’ research showed how single-celled lifeforms working together created an entirely new organism that became the foundation of all advanced life on earth. This was an inflection point in the development of evolutionary biology, shifting the scientific and cultural narrative away from “survival of the fittest” towards “survival of the most cooperative.”
Though competition contributes to better individual or organizational performance, it...
Introduction to 5G Core Service-Based Architecture (SBA) Components
The interest in 5G and mIoT is exploding. It's exciting to see so many IT and cybersecurity professionals in my network trying to learn more about 5G and related technologies.
In addition to my usual articles about the societal impacts of these innovations, I'll start a series of articles introducing key 5G and mIoT technology concepts. Before we move on to technical aspects of 5G security.
Let's get started with reviewing the 5G core service-based architecture and learning the first few dozen acronyms, out of approximately a gazillion. The cellular industry loves acronyms. Even more than the cybersecurity industry.
5G architecture is...
The Quantum Computing Threat to 5G Security
Recently, in the science journal Nature, Google claimed ‘quantum supremacy’ saying that its quantum computer is the first to perform a calculation that would be practically impossible for a classical machine. This quantum computing breakthrough brings us closer to the arrival of functional quantum systems which will have a profound effect on today's security infrastructure. How will quantum computing affect the security of 5G technologies currently being developed and deployed?
Last spring we suggested that the emergence of quantum internet connectivity and computation, expected sometime in the next decade, poses numerous new cryptography and cybersecurity challenges for 5G security.
MIT offers...
Resources
@5GSec Twitter
Ransomware Tops 2020 Threat Rankings - #Ransomware was the most observed threat in 2020, according to a global corporate investigations and risk consulting firm. #CyberSecurity https://5gs.ec/2GY05U6
Malware gangs love open source offensive hacking tools | ZDNet - Hacking tools released by security researchers often end up being abused by bad guys as well. #Cybersecurity https://5gs.ec/3dre3K9
AI-Exacerbated Disinformation and #Cyber Threats to Democracy - Marin Ivezic - #Disinformation increase makes it harder to discern truth from disinformation. #AI-driven disinformation will be able to spread considerably faster. https://5gs.ec/2WNNVS6
Verizon completes first successful end-to-end (from the core of the network to the far edge of the network) fully virtualized #5G data session in the world https://5gs.ec/2Itu4nJ
Report: Critical Infrastructure Cyber Attacks A Global Crisis - Systems we rely on to keep the lights on, heat our homes, make our medicines and move our goods are increasingly vulnerable to devastating cyber attacks... #Cybersecurity #ICSSecurity https://5gs.ec/3nzmuYA
Fitbit Spyware Steals Personal Data via Watch Face - A wide-open app-building API would allow an attacker to build a malicious application that could access Fitbit user data, and send it to any server. #CyberSecurity https://5gs.ec/3jPmS2N
New malware variant targets IoT devices - FutureIoT - A new variant of the InterPlanetary Storm malware is targeting #IoT devices, such as TVs that run on Android operating systems... #Cybersecurity #IoTSecurity https://5gs.ec/2GOHNEY
Two thirds of businesses saw rise in #security incidents in the past 12 months - Businesses everywhere expect to be compromised through their #IoT devices sooner rather than later. #IoTSecurity https://5gs.ec/2SQBHGs
Europol analyzes latest trends, cybercrime impact within the EU and beyond - Help Net Security - Criminals quickly exploited the pandemic to attack vulnerable people... #Cybersecurity https://5gs.ec/3jVKcMG
Will We Have Cyberwar or Cyber Peace? - Richard A. Clarke, a former White House counterterrorism and #cybersecurity chief, offers two competing visions of 2030. #Cyberwar https://5gs.ec/30XuYzh
IEMI - Threat of Intentional Electromagnetic Interference - Marin Ivezic - While not as well-documented as other forms of attack on digital systems, it is essential to recognize #IEMI danger and protect against them. #IoT https://5gs.ec/2WP8lKf
Enterprise #5G will displace WiFi, says VMware chief - Which-50 - "The improved bandwidth, latency and security of the next generation of mobile connectivity will be so valuable to enterprises it will ultimately displace their WiFi networks" https://5gs.ec/3diOD1x
US to Grow Space Force Cybersecurity Team - part of the Space Force's cyber future response would include technologies like GPS anti-jamming solutions and Protected Anti-Jam Tactical Satcom (PATS) #cybersecurity #IEMI https://5gs.ec/3dijMlE
5G network security concerns and how to prepare for them - Enterprises looking forward to deploying #5G must first assess their security concerns upfront and review their policies and procedures, despite 5G's #security improvements. #5GSecurity https://5gs.ec/2SNBUue
Cyber Command, Microsoft take action against Trickbot botnet before Election Day - The Pentagon’s offensive hacking arm, Cyber Command, has carried out an operation to hinder the ability of TrickBot... #CyberSecurity https://5gs.ec/33Rje3d
5G Security Projections for the Future - With 5G roaming on the horizon, now is a good time to reflect on the categories of risk we may face in the future for #5G interconnection traffic. #5GSecurity #Security https://5gs.ec/3dcIiVr
Will 5G and Society 5.0 Mark a New Era in Human Evolution? - Marin Ivezic - With its lighting speeds, near-zero latency, and high device connection capacity, only #5G has the potential to deliver the Society 5.0 vision #Society50 https://5gs.ec/2WME7aZ
Infographic: Ransomware attacks by industry, continent, and more - Cyberattacks have surged during the coronavirus pandemic. This infographic details #ransomware attack trends by industry, continent, and more. #Cybersecurity https://5gs.ec/3nKbDv4
