U.S Intelligence Agencies Warn About 5G Network Weaknesses
Inadequate implementation of telecom standards, supply chain threats, and weaknesses in systems architecture could pose major cybersecurity risks to 5G networks, potentially making them a lucrative target for cybercriminals and nation-state adversaries to exploit for valuable intelligence.
The analysis, which aims to identify and assess risks and
vulnerabilities introduced by 5G adoption, was published on Monday by the U.S.
National Security Agency (NSA), in partnership with the Office of the Director
of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS)
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
"As new 5G policies and standards are released, there
remains the potential for threats that impact the end-user," the report
said. "For example, nation states may attempt to exert undue influence on
standards that benefit their proprietary technologies and limit customers'
choices to use other equipment or software."
Specifically, the report cites undue influence from
adversarial nations on the development of technical standards, which may pave
the way for adopting untrusted proprietary technologies and equipment that
could be difficult to update, repair, and replace. Also of concern, per the
report, are the optional security controls baked into telecommunication
protocols, which, if not implemented by network operators, could leave the door
open to malicious attacks.
A second area of concern highlighted by the NSA, ODNI, and
CISA is the supply chain. Components procured from third-party suppliers,
vendors, and service providers could either be counterfeit or compromised, with
security flaws and malware injected during the early development process,
enabling threat actors to exploit the vulnerabilities at a later stage.
"Compromised counterfeit components could enable a
malicious actor to impact the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of
data that travels through the devices and to move laterally to other more
sensitive parts of the network," according to the analysis.
This could also take the form of a software supply chain
attack in which malicious code is purposefully added to a module that's
delivered to target users either by infecting the source code repository or
hijacking the distribution channel, thereby allowing unsuspecting customers to
deploy the compromised components into their networks.
Lastly, weaknesses in the 5G architecture itself could be
used as a jumping-off point to execute a variety of attacks. Chief among them
involves the need to support 4G legacy communications infrastructure, which
comes with its own set of inherent shortcomings that can be exploited by
malicious actors. Another is the issue with improper slice management that
could permit adversaries to obtain data from different slices and even disrupt
access to subscribers.
Indeed, a study published by AdaptiveMobile in March 2021
found that security flaws in the slicing model that could be repurposed to
allow data access and carry out denial of service attacks between different
network slices on a mobile operator's 5G network.
"To reach its potential, 5G systems require a
complement of spectrum frequencies (low, mid, and high) because each frequency
type offers unique benefits and challenges," the report detailed.
"With an increasing number of devices competing for access to the same
spectrum, spectrum sharing is becoming more common. Spectrum sharing may
provide opportunities for malicious actors to jam or interfere with
non-critical communication paths, adversely affecting more critical
communications networks."
In identifying policy and standards, supply chain, and 5G
systems architecture as the three main potential threat vectors, the idea is to
evaluate risks posed by transitioning to the new wireless technology as well as
ensure the deployment of secure and reliable 5G infrastructure.
"These threats and vulnerabilities could be used by
malicious threat actors to negatively impact organizations and users," the
agencies said. "Without continuous focus on 5G threat vectors and early
identification of weaknesses in the system architecture, new vulnerabilities
will increase the impact of cyber incidents."
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