Vulnerabilities and risks: State Department’s response to 5G exploitation

According to the department’s lead for the Cybersecurity-Supply Chain Risk Management and Emerging Technologies Working Group, the US State Department is creating countermeasures to stop foreign adversaries from using current or upcoming 5G or 6G networks, as well as the internet of things, to target American diplomats abroad.

Speaking at the ACT-IAC Emerging Technology & Innovation Summit, Louis Blazy said the technology to remotely stop a car in motion already exists, and domestic countermeasures are in place. But they are harder to implement on foreign soil.

While the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act prohibits the use of technology manufactured by some Chinese companies, overseas embassies and posts are reliant on the communications infrastructure their host governments offer. China developed the internationally accepted 5G protocol, so it understands it better than any other country,

Almost every critical infrastructure sector specified by the Department of Homeland Security will be impacted by 5G, 6G, and IoT, he claimed. Additionally, it will have an effect on you personally in terms of your safety and privacy.

Blazy claimed cars with electronic sensors could be started or stopped remotely because they contain integrated circuits with weak programming; however, he was unable to reveal specifics of the classified countermeasures. The State Department is also concerned about terrorists exploiting automation technologies using 5G-enabled drone swarms to target the energy grid.