94% OF THE SPANISH POPULATION COULD SUFFER A CYBERATACK

• Cybersecurity and AI will also take center stage at the seventh edition of the 5G Forum.

• “Crimes related to computer crime are skyrocketing due to the massive use of new technologies. Sexual crimes through the Internet, computer fraud and gender cyber-violence”, says Gabriel González, Delegate Prosecutor for Computer Crime and Deputy Prosecutor in the Autonomous Region of Andalusia of the Data Protection Delegate of the State Attorney General’s Office.

• “AI plays an essential role in cybersecurity by helping to identify, prevent and respond to cyber threats faster and more accurately” advances Juan Miguel Pulpillo, Expert and Coordinator in Andalusia of the Center for Industrial Cybersecurity (CCI).

Cybersecurity and AI in 5G and 6G networks will have an exclusive day dedicated to them at the 5G Forum 24: Where 5G leaders meet, which will be held at the Nissan Cartuja Auditorium in Seville from May 6 to 10 in a hybrid format, with two face-to-face sessions -Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 May- and three virtual sessions -May 8, 9 and 10-. During the last day of the 5G Forum, experts from different national companies and organizations will offer their experience and address this topic within the telecommunications sector, both in the business and user environments.

Computer crime soars

“94% of the Spanish population between 16 and 74 years old has a mobile device, which makes it a potential victim of a cyberattack,” says Gabriel Gonzalez, Delegate Prosecutor for Computer Crime and Deputy Prosecutor in the Autonomous Region of Andalusia of the Data Protection Delegate of the Attorney General’s Office, who will participate in the seventh edition of the 5G Forum.

Prosecutor Gabriel Gonzalez will make a radiography of the national situation regarding cybersecurity and new technologies and how “crimes related to computer crime are skyrocketing due to the massive use of new technologies”. Internet sex crimes, computer fraud and gender-based cyber-violence are the crimes that have increased the most due to new technologies.

To these are added those derived from Artificial Intelligence, a technology that, in the words of Gabriel Gonzalez, is greatly favoring our lives but in the criminal field is also generating “many possibilities for cybercriminals” to perpetrate their crimes.

Cybersecurity from a Telefónica Tech perspective

Sergio de los Santos, director of the Innovation and Labs area at Telefónica Tech, will share the challenges faced by organizations in terms of cybersecurity and how they can develop their business in a cyber-resilient way, with the right strategy and partners. According to him, “there has been an important paradigm shift”, as cybersecurity has always been understood as “resisting a cyberattack” while now the importance lies in “how to recover from that cyberattack”. Companies have assumed that “they are going to suffer attacks and that these are going to be successful”.

Regarding investment in cybersecurity, Sergio de los Santos says that “it is within the reach of all budgets” and is not only accessible to large companies. “SMEs have to understand that they are going to be attacked and that cybersecurity is not a utopia,” says De los Santos, who is very clear that “AI is going to have an impact on digitalization and cybersecurity processes” both on the side of the attackers and on the side of the companies.

Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence and 6G

Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity are two terms that will go hand in hand in the very near future. Juan Miguel Pulpillo, Expert and Coordinator of the Center for Industrial Cybersecurity (CCI), advances that “AI plays an essential role in cybersecurity by helping to identify, prevent and respond to cyber threats faster and more accurately“. In his opinion, AI’s ability to analyze large-scale data and make automated decisions makes it “an invaluable tool in protecting systems and networks against malicious attacks.”

“AI evolves so quickly that new threats appear quite regularly,” says Juan Miguel Pulpillo, who predicts that 6G will bring a paradigm shift in which users will not only be concerned with connecting devices and generating data, but will “extract information and make decisions in real time,” which will mean having additional security against cyberattacks.

Cybersecurity as a top priority in an enterprise

José Ángel Capote, Cyber Security and Privacy Officer (CSPO) at Huawei Spain, will address the cybersecurity knowledge base that has enabled the GSMA MCKB (Mobile Cyber Security Knowledge Base) to improve resilience against cyber-attacks on 5G mobile communications networks and how Huawei is helping to achieve this goal of improving cyber-resilience. From his point of view, the key in this framework is to “have well-defined processes and mechanisms” from which to improve year by year so that “networks can adapt to new threats” whose appearance cannot be avoided.

“Just as the attackers are going to improve their capabilities, it is necessary for the networks to increase their level of protection against these cyberattacks”, says José Ángel Capote, for whom one of the main aspects to take into account at the corporate level is that “cybersecurity is at the top of the priorities of the entities” when it comes to providing it with resources and budget in these entities, whether they are companies, public bodies or any other institution.

Autonomous mobility and cybersecurity

Aitor Fernandez, president of AEVAC (Spanish Association of the Connected Autonomous Vehicle), will also present the role of 5G technology and cybersecurity in autonomous mobility. “At a technological level, considerable progress has been made in the integration of more advanced artificial intelligence systems in autonomous vehicles, enabling significant improvements in real-time decision making, and vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure interaction.” The greater the evolution, the greater the risk of threats, and for this “it is essential to highlight the importance of cybersecurity, as the growing interconnection of these vehicles with their environment brings with it multiple threats. Each of these connections represents a potential gateway for malicious attackers, so it is critical to work to minimize the risks”.

The 5G Forum has established itself as a reference forum in the technology sector, as it is a unique showcase with a multidisciplinary vocation to publicize each year the use cases and success stories of operators, companies, universities and institutions.

All the presentations of this and previous editions can be viewed through ‘The Observatory’, the digital platform of Medina Media Events, where all the interventions will be available 24/365 for on-demand consumption, like Netflix, but free of charge.

The seventh edition of the 5G Forum is organized by Medina Media Events and is supported by MASORANGE, Telefónica, Red Hat, Netmetrix, Huawei, ZTE, Mavenir, OFG, Vicomtech, Wavecontrol, Axión, the University of Málaga, Viavi Solutions, Nokia, Rohde & Schwarz, Gradiant, Hispasat, Gsertel, AI Funded, Opossum and Gamma Solutions, among others.