The growth of 5G and the Internet of Things may be helping to bring smarter and more connected experiences and services around the world, but may also be exposing users to more security worries.
Speaking to TechRadar Pro at the recent MWC 2019 event in Barcelona Kevin Simzer, chief operating officer at security experts Trend Micro warned that the major upheaval caused by the growing influence of 5G and IoT means consumers need to be on the lookout for new threats.
“We see an infrastructure change coming (and) we know it's going to be done in order to offer business benefits,” he says, but it also introduces a new threat vector.”
Simzer says that IoT is the third major scene change in recent times, following the virtualisation of data centres 10 years ago and the popularisation of public cloud services which began a few years ago.
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The company is now looking to utilise its 30 years of cybersecurity experience to help businesses and consumers alike to stay on top of threats, having set up an IoT-specific division five years ago.
“Service providers recognise the IoT as an opportunity...but they also see it as a bit of a threat,” he says, pointing to recent research that suggests as many as 50 billion devices could be connected to the IoT soon.
At MWC 2019 Trend Micro announced it would be looking to work with telco operators across the world to supply its Consumer Connect product to ensure users are protected. The product offers a “complete” suite of protection, Simzer says, combining endpoint protection, network defence and data security capabilities.
“We have tried to be a first mover in cybersecurity...we consider the bad guys, the hackers to be our competitors,” he notes.
“Increasingly, companies are suffering from security vendor fatigue...all our products work nicely together. We see it as an opportunity to stop more bad guys, but ultimately do better from a business standpoint too.”
The company points to recent announcements in its home nation of Japan, where the government has ruled on introducing basic security education and best practice in order to ensure consumers stay safe online.
However Simzer notes that it also takes input from users, security vendors and the wider industry in order to keep customers on top of the latest threats.
"We believe that even if everyone steps up, it's not going to be enough,” he says, “we can't rely on one person, one company, or one thing, it's going to take all of us to step in."
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