REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

The next generation of wireless cellular, called 5G, has started to roll out across the US, delivering speeds orders of magnitude faster than the 4G networks in use today.

For consumers, that means better video playback on mobile devices, but for businesses, 5G is expected to enable all manner of connected devices to work together more efficiently from connected cars to factory automation to smart buildings.

Joseph Cortese, associate director at the cybersecurity firm A-LIGN, said that will be a good thing.

"We will see a rush of businesses attempting to be the first-to-market with 5G enabled devices," Cortese said. "This will lead to an enormous swell in the size of the Internet of Things, with thousands of new devices joining the network." The Internet of Things is the name given to networks of connected devices in homes, business, and across cities.

But Cortese also said we need to be prepared for cyberattacks, which reliance on 5G could make unimaginably worse.

"Distributed denial of service attacks have the potential to quickly overload 5G networks and impact critical services. In the past, DDoS attacks have troubled services like Netflix and Airbnb, but in the future, the Internet of Things will be used for things like directing traffic patterns and providing emergency services workers with critical information."

In such an attack, large parts of a city's infrastructure will be rendered useless. In a smart city that depends on the Internet of Things, operations would be brought to a halt.

Cortese said, "Even a simple attack has the potential to cripple a smart city that relies on 5G networks to function."

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