5G one of several security challenges to CNI

5G technology is among the key security challenges facing critical national infrastructure and all other business organisations, according to the Information Security Forum.

There are a number of security challenges facing critical national infrastructure, according to Steve Durbin, managing director of the Information Security Forum (ISF).

These include 5G technology, parasitic malware, cloud services and the potential breakup of technology giants, he told the CNI security track of the Security and Counter Terror Expoin London.

“One of the biggest challenges to managing CNI is trying to predict or anticipate and being as aware as possible of the dangers that are out there,” said Durbin.

One way in which the ISF tries to help organisations to do that, he said, is through its annual Threat Horizon reports that detail key emerging threats.

The Key emerging threats highlighted 2021 edition of the report, which is due for publication in April 2019, include the implications of digital connectivity, the increase in the digital cold war and businesses’ dependence on digital competitors.

The report breaks the threat horizon into a number of themes and threats, such as digital connectivity, which highlights the fact that organisations have become extremely dependent on digital connections for day to day operations and the need for a backup plan to deal with any disruptions.

“In terms of this theme, the top threat highlighted by the report is 5G, which will be rolled out fairly aggressively in the not too distant future, because of the way these technologies will effectively broaden the attack surface,” said Durbin.