The rapidly developing 5G cellular network promises to revolutionize the Internet of Things ecosystem, including how it impacts smart devices in cars and banking.
But it’s not all good. Those same advances that are boosting network capacity will expand opportunities for cybercrime, a recent report found.
The report found that the IoT coupled with 5G networks will benefit the development of connected cars, which produce vast amounts of data and can take advantage of the networks’ faster speeds and response times. Connected cars and closed-circuit televisions integrated within 5G networks are likely to represent the biggest growth areas by 2023.
As the technology is fast improving, it will also open the door to an increase in cybercriminal activities, which in the case of connected cars could put the safety of users in jeopardy, according to PYMNTS.com’s November Intelligence of Things Tracker report. Providers will be forced to shift their focus from innovation to security for maximum growth and to stay competitive.
“There are still roadblocks that players in the IoT ecosystem need to overcome, including the potential security risks that have plagued the industry from the beginning,” PYMNTS.com writes in its latest report. Some 105 million attacks on IoT-enabled devices occurred during the first six months of 2019, according to the PYMNTS.com report.
Two-thirds of businesses have plans to develop new tools and technologies that will leverage 5G by 2020, and financial services companies and in particular banks are also seeing the advantages of 5G to deliver better services to their customers through faster connectivity and speeds on smartphones and other connected devices.
In the car industry, Audi has recently signed a partnership with German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom to increase innovation in 5G. Hyundai completed testing of 5G-enabled traffic control technology in partnership with South Korean telecom company KT.
The report looks at the security of 5G in relation to connected cars, but the concerns are true of all IoT-enabled devices in consumers’ pockets and public areas, it says.
The 5G networks will allow consumers to bank from anywhere and any device connected to 5G including in remote underbanked regions and to conduct big-ticket purchases that require cumbersome credit application processing for example.
- 5G is able to handle larger data amounts at quicker speeds, meaning more can be accomplished in shorter periods of time across longer distances.
- More than 61% of global enterprises are investing in or experimenting with intelligent IoT tools in 2019, according to an earlier report.
- In addition to security concerns, there are also potential health risks linked to 5G as base stations may create some effects on humans from the radio frequency they transmit.
