5G Cybersecurity: Risk Assessment and Incident Response in the Healthcare Industry

Abstract

Rapid proliferation and developments in the field of telecommunication have led to a renewed interest in the fifth-generation technology standard for broadband cellular networks. As compared to the previous generations, 5G is capable of connecting numerous nodes simultaneously while offering pathbreaking implementations in enabling time-critical services such as autonomous vehicles, real-time drone manoeuvres, Industry 4.0, virtual reality, augmented reality, etc. Nevertheless, these conveniences may turn out to be security threats or vulnerabilities susceptible to cyberattacks. Apparently, thwarting cyberattacks is a never-ending journey, especially in the major economic sector – healthcare. It is an undeniable fact that healthcare is among the industries underpinning a nation’s economy. Hence, this paper will first forecast the trend of PHI breaches with Holt Winter’s model to emphasise the rise of cyber threats. Next, evaluating the risks of the chosen asset with ISO/IEC 27001 risk matrix. Then, compares the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SP 800-61 Incident Response Lifecycle and John Boyd’s OODA Loop; the latter offers significant advantages over the former concerning the adoption of situational awareness concepts, philosophy, and more. As a result, the number of PHI breaches increase tremendously due to the growth in the number of IT incidents and insider attacks. Keywords: 5G network, Incident response, Agile response, Cyberattack, Information security