[Answered] The 5G roll-out will be a game-changer for law enforcement agencies. It will enable the police to fight crime effectively. At the same time, criminal use of 5G is inevitable. Comment.

5G is a next generation mobile network technology, after 4G LTE networks. 5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users.
 game-changer for law enforcement agencies:

• The 5G roll-out is set to enhance efficiency, productivity, and security by helping the police access critical information in real-time and nab criminals.
• 5G has high bandwidth and low latency, so its adoption would ensure the best performance of police devices such as body cams, facial recognition technology, automatic number-plate recognition, drones, and CCTVs.
• 5G promises to transmit clearer images. This will simplify the task of the police who, at present, often look at hazy images from devices and attempt to decipher them while working on cases.
• The increased storage capacity promised by 5G will allow the police to streamline their investigation methods.
• 5G will also allow rapid and secure communication within the organisation as well as between civilians and emergency responders.
• The police can remotely access and analyse crime data and information from other infrastructure such as traffic lights.

How criminal use of 5G is inevitable?

• 5G is a software-defined digital routing. This makes it susceptible to cyber threats such as botnet attacks, man-in-the-middle attacks, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) overloads.
• 5G lacks end-to-end encryption; hackers can plot their attacks more precisely and perpetrate cybercrimes by hacking into systems or disseminating illegal content.
• A person could set up a fake 5G tower on top of a public building and manipulate it to intercept private phone calls or, gain access to the person’s data or make purchases using the person’s credit card.
• Criminals could use 5G to mask their location. They could use 5G to locate their victims quickly and track their movements and coordinate onslaughts through real-time communication with each other.
• Criminal groups could hack into Internetof-Things (IoT) devices and remotely commit crimes. E.g., they could hack into a victim’s vehicle and cause an accident in order to collect insurance money etc.
• The high speed would allow terrorists to execute attacks more rapidly and precisely, without having to travel physically or use telephones.

Way forward:

• Training programmes focusing on such crimes must be developed.
• The government and telecom companies could think of setting up a 5G crime monitoring task force to monitor and identify new crimes and develop countermeasures.