Cyber Vulnerabilities Heed the Wake-up Call!
Will 5G bring in its wake tremendous networking and communication benefits or will it push up the Quotient of cyber security risks? Captain Zarir Irani and Pradeep Luthria take a look at what's coming.
Allianz, the insurance folks, call cyber risk a core concern for businesses in 2019 and beyond; and this is perhaps magnified for shipping. According to the Allianz Risk Barometer 2019, cyber incidents (37% of responses) jointly led the concerns, with business interruption (BI) as the top corporate risks globally. While we are yet untangling and coming to terms with all the potential dangers posed by cyber vulnerabilities, with 5G on our doorstep, the threat potentials and complexity are bound to get even more bewildering.
Vendors with all kinds of snazzy products and services based on the IoT (Internet of Things) and artificial intelligence (AI) will be tantalizing our technology taste buds. There will be free-flowing data from our toaster to our fridge, from our fridge to our supermarkets, etc. But similarly, there will be massive volumes of data flowing at breakneck speed from nuclear power plants to airport control towers to unmanned vehicles to weather satellites. All this will attract the best of the hackers, interested in harvesting the rich pickings ensconced within the data packets floating the airwaves. But besides the hackers who are interested in commercial gain, the darker players are the terrorists, the rogue states; they too can make devious use of the bounty. It is already happening so bound to get worse. Worrisome thought.
Humorously now, coming to think of it, if it's out there; is it not no man's land? And hence fair game for all who brave the challenge of intercepting it? Pause to think: why is someone who traps the sun's rays into a gizmo and converts those rays into electricity (maybe for his own benefit of a warm shower) not considered a hacker? But this topic is too sober a one to let us remain frivolous. If we have learned anything from history, it's that rapid adoption of new technology advances is a double-edged sword, it can build tremendous value as quickly as it can destroy and bring us back to ground zero. As a recent Gartner report found, than a year two-thirds of organisations plan to deploy 5G, making it imperative that we prepare for a fresh wave of cyber threats, set to be unleashed on an already vulnerable environment. And these threats will be different and the types that we still have to wrap our heads around to counter. As we stand by and let IoT or AI infiltrate every aspect of society and business whether that is across smart cities, banking or as part of a nation's critical infrastructure, it is going to ensure that we will depend on 5G more than all earlier communication systems.
The technology has everything needed to improve efficiencies at every level, increasing network bandwidth, speed and reach, while simultaneously lowering latency across almost every vertical. 5G will not only move more data and be more responsive, but support smaller, more micro-networks. 5G holds the potential to connect practically an unlimited number of smaller devices within an extremely short span of time. People, the time has now come to be more thoughtful about cyber vulnerabilities. Wake up!
About the Author
Captain Zarir S. Irani
An OCIMF-accredited OVID inspector and eCMID auditor, Regional Director of the International Institute of Marine Surveying (IIMS) as well as member of the IIMS Board of Directors. He is also Regional Director of the Antigua and Barbuda Maritime Flag Registry, and Director of Constellation Marine Services. Pradeep Luthria is a senior technology management professional with global experience. His domain areas are oil and gas, shipping, logistics, ports and free zones. He is a senior cyber security consultant of Vulnerability Audits.