5G, the Internet of Things, and What it Means for Our Future of Privacy

The pandemic of 2020 has many of us working from home. For most of us, our internet must work quickly and efficiently to stay productive. The increasing demand for having reliable, quick internet coupled with new technology compatible with the internet has led to the creation of 5G, a new wireless internet connection. But many feel anxious about this new mobile network, wondering what impacts it may have on our health, privacy, and security. Learn all about 5G in today’s GKIS article.

What is 5G?

Introduced in 2019, 5G is the latest form of wireless internet connection. 5G will enhance internet connections and download speeds using “millimeter waves.” These waves are smaller and move faster than previously used 4G waves, allowing the space needed for the Internet of Things (IoT).

What is “IoT”?

IoT stands for the Internet of Things, which refers to wired and WiFi-connected home products that collect data about our daily behaviors. This data is then used to better target us for marketing, to improve services, and to make more efficient, informed decisions based on probability and statistics. Currently, we have 6.5 billion devices connected to the internet. It is estimated that by 2026, more than 75 billion devices will be connected to the internet generating $1.1 trillion a year.1

How will IoT be applied?

Consumer

Door locks, security cameras and monitors, home appliances, light fixtures, thermostats, smart televisions, smart refrigerators, media platforms, and voice-assisted digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Google Assistant, and Microsoft’s Cortana will have the capacity to sense, analyze, and act as well as deliver data to the corporation for analysis, storage, and sharing.

Commercial

IoT is being applied to many industries, including the healthcare and automobile industries through the use of video training, building automation, security robots, pacemakers, wireless infusion pumps, and vehicle to vehicle communication (V2V). In 2019, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Dr. Antonio de Lacy guided a team of doctors operating on a patient through a live video from the other side of town.2 The video is clear, in real-time, and with no delays.

Military

Drones, robots, surveillance, and wearable biometrics are being implemented for warfare.

Industrial

Industrial applications of IoT include statistical evaluations of big data from manufacturing robots and smart farming. One study estimates IoT will replace up to 800 million farmworkers by 2030.3 Vertical farms and warehouses can produce the exact amount according to demand, rather than a surplus, and without the expense of employing workers.4

Infrastructure

Barcelona has embraced the development of becoming a “smart city” through the use of IoT. The results appear to have a positive impact on their economy, resulting in a $50 million per year revenue on smart parking alone. They have decreased their costs in energy consumption by $37 million a year using self-regulating lights, as well as saving $58 million a year with “smart gardens” that water plants at the right place and the right time.5

Security, Privacy, and the Internet of Things

We are headed for a paradigm shift, where our physical belongings are increasingly becoming computer systems. What was first “internet security” will be “everything security.” Unfortunately, most IoT software being manufactured and marketed is poorly written, insecure, and in the hands of corporations. Although you may trust the corporation with your data, do you trust the hackers who can breach that corporation’s controls to get access to it?

Security just isn’t a pressing concern for corporations and consumers. As consumers, we want inexpensive devices that work. Having insecure appliances connected to the internet like a thermometer, which is normally intended to last a long time, is dangerously allowing hackers the opportunity of exploitation.6 You might be able to get away with leaving the front door of your home unlocked, but in the cyberworld, every door can be attacked. Security professionals and hackers alike use what is known as wardriving to locate and record WiFi networks using a GPS.7

Wardriving is a GPS used to locate vulnerable and unprotected WiFi from a car. Problems arise when hackers recover the WiFi password through other connected smart devices.8 Thermometers, baby monitors, smart toys, surveillance cameras, and vehicles have been hacked in the past.9 More recently, throughout this pandemic, video conferencing Zoom applications have been hacked and banned all around the world because of poor security.10 Steps towards securing the IoT will need to be regulated, rather than patching the software for security after-the-fact, like Zoom.

Thank you to GKIS intern Andrew Weissmann for researching and authoring this article. To learn how to increase the cybersecurity in your home and identify the red flags that suggest your child may be in danger from bad actors online, check out our GKIS Cybersecurity and Red Flags Supplement. For less than a cup of coffee, you can be more informed and assured your family has adopted the best cyber-safety practices.