"An Emerging Threat: Attacking 5G Via Network Slices"

Deloitte & Touche researchers have discovered a potential attack vector that targets network slices, a critical component of 5G architecture. Next-generation 5G networks are expected to be the communications backbone for various mission-critical environments, including public safety, military services, critical infrastructure, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). They also play a role in future latency-sensitive applications such as self-driving vehicles and telesurgery. Therefore, a cyberattack against that infrastructure might have serious consequences for public health and national security, as well as a variety of commercial services for individual businesses. A flexible IP-based core network is at the heart of any 5G network, which enables resources and attributes to be constructed into individual slices. Each network slice is tailored to meet the requirements of a certain application. A network slice supporting an IIoT network of sensors in a smart-factory installation, for example, might provide significantly low latency, long device battery life, and constricted bandwidth speed. An adjacent slice with high bandwidth and near-zero latency could enable driverless cars. A single 5G network can serve numerous adjacent network slices, all of which share a common physical infrastructure (i.e., the Radio Access Network (RAN)). Deloitte and Virginia Tech worked together on a 5G research project, discovering that it is possible to exploit 5G by compromising one slice and then escaping it to compromise a second. This article continues to discuss findings from the research regarding possible lateral movement via network slicing and defending against 5G network slicing attacks. 

Dark Reading reports "An Emerging Threat: Attacking 5G Via Network Slices"