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- In lesson 14.4, we're gonna talk
about mobile connectivity.
And in 14.5 we're gonna continue the discussion
about mobile.
So mobile connectivity is used to facilitate portable
or mobile device communication.
Now a mobile device is actually a pretty generic term
for any legacy or emerging device that's portable
and has interactive and connectivity capability.
So that could be a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone,
an e-reader, a gaming console, or a wearable.
And the communication networks
that connect these devices
are very loosely termed wireless technologies.
But what they have in common is
that they enable mobile devices to share voice
and data and applications referred to as mobile apps,
as well as connect to trusted and untrusted networks.
So let's look
at all the ways our mobile devices could connect.
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cellular, RFID, NFC, and WUSB.
Wi-Fi is a radio frequency contained network.
Bluetooth is a shortwave network.
Cellular is a radio frequency distributed network.
RFID is radio frequency identification.
NFC stands for near field communication network,
you're most familiar with that from tap and go
with your credit or debit card.
And a WUSB Bus is a wireless USB bus.
So let's dive a little deeper
into each of these connection methods.
Wi-Fi, which really stands for wireless fidelity, right,
is a radio frequency network that requires a connection
to be established.
Now most mobile devices allow for an automatic switching
between Wi-Fi and cellular networks,
depending on availability and user preference.
Now the Wi-Fi range depends upon the frequency band,
the radio power, output, the antenna gain,
and the antenna type as well as the modulation technique.
And we saw when we did the lesson on wireless, right,
everything from plain old 802.11, all the way down
to 802.11n, just how different the frequency
and the range and the speed can be.
Bluetooth is a short wave radio low power technology.
It's based on the 802.15 standard.
Now you and I use Bluetooth all the time, right?
So why was it designed?
Well, it was originally designed to replace RS-232 cables.
Now the range is from 10 to 24 meters,
so depending upon the version.
And Bluetooth uses include things like our headsets,
our hearing aids,
our wireless speakers, PC input and output, health centers,
real-time location systems,
GPS receivers, barcodes, traffic control devices,
and game consoles, just to name a minuscule amount
of things that we really use Bluetooth for.
Now Bluetooth is subject
to two attacks you wanna be aware of,
Bluejacking and Bluesnarfing.
We talked about these a little bit earlier.
Bluejacking is injecting an unsolicited message.
And Bluesnarfing is the unauthorized device access
through a Bluetooth discovery connection.
Now a cellular network
is a radio frequency distributed network
that defines geographic areas into cells,
hence we get the name cellular.
The cells are serviced
by a fixed location transceiver that's referred
to as a base station.
Now 4G uses packet switching technology
which organizes data into parts or packets for transmission
and then reassembles the information at the destination.
5G, which is becoming now more common,
uses an aggregated frequency band to unlock bandwidth,
to reduce latency, to expand reach, and to increase speed.
They say that 5G is up to 20 times faster than 4G.
The 5G networks are designed
to support the necessary infrastructure that we need
to connect and manage a whole wide range of IOT,
Internet of Things, and IIOT, Industrial Internet of Things,
devices, as well as industrial automation
and a connected infrastructure.
So let's talk through some G history.
So 1G was just analog cellular.
It really wasn't until 2G came out
that we had our first generation truly of digital.
We had GSM, CDMA, and TDMA.
And 3G was the next generation.
We went from 200kbp to megabits per second.
And then we had 4G
and that's our third generation up to a gigabit speed level.
And this is where LTE and Wi-Fi MAX came in.
And now here we are at 5G,
bigger channels to speed up data,
lower latency to be more responsive,
and the ability to connect a lot more devices at once
for sensors and smart devices.
Now I do wanna stress that all these generations
use radio signals over a range of frequency bands
to transmit and receive voice and data
by communicating with base stations.
A base station is a stationary radio transmitter
with antennas that are mounted on mass or on buildings.
Next we have RFID, that's radio frequency identification.
Now RFID is a method
of data collection using low power radio waves.
The data is sent and received with a system consisting
of an RFID tag, just a small little tag, an antenna,
an RFID reader, and a transceiver.
Now the readers of device that has one or more antennas
that emit radio waves and receive signals back
from the RFID tag.
Readers can be mobile
so they can be carried by hand
or they can be mounted on a post or overhead.
Reader systems actually can be mounted into the architecture
of a cabinet, a room, or into a whole building.
Now tags themselves can be passive or active.
A passive RFID tags are powered
by the reader and they don't have a battery,
where an active RFID tags are powered by batteries.
Now what do we use these tags for?
Well, the biggest use of using these tags is going
to be asset management and inventory control.
NFC, near field communications, is a short range,
really short range wireless technology
that requires extreme close proximity and or device contact.
Now NFC is actually rooted in RFID technology.
The range is less than 20 centimeters.
And where we're seeing NFC be using a lot
right now is in commerce.
So for contactless payment systems such as Apple Pay,
or smartphone sharing your contacts, photos, videos,
or files, we'll also see it being used
in identity and access tokens and in gaming.
So some security concerns we have are eavesdropping,
interception, and theft.
Now Wireless USB or WUSB is a wireless extension
of the universal serial bus, that's USB, standard.
And it allows for wireless communication
between a USB device and a host system.
Now the range is relatively small, three to 10 meters.
We see wireless USB being used in game controllers,
printers, scanners, digital cameras, portable media players,
hard disk drives, and USB flash drives.
So that was a pretty comprehensive survey of all
of the different types of wireless connectivity
that we're currently using.
So that brings us to a three second challenge,
five challenge questions, three seconds each, let's do it.
A cellular network
that uses aggregated frequency bands.
1, 2, 3,
that's gonna be 5G.
Number two, components include tags and readers.
1, 2, 3,
it's gonna be RFID.
Number three, technology used
in contactless payment systems.
1, 2, 3,
that's gonna be NFC.
Number four, unauthorized device access
through a Bluetooth discovery connection,
what's that called?
1, 2, 3,
that's Bluesnarfing.
And lastly, number five, a smartwatch is an example
of this type of mobile device.
It's called a,
1, 2, 3,
wearable.
Okay, so let's do a Security-in-Action,
this time about 5G safety.
Now your company manufactures IOT devices
and is looking forward to enhance speed and reduce latency
that widespread availability and adoption
of a 5G network would make possible.
But much to the marketing team's dismay,
the company's social media accounts are being bombarded
with posts about the dangers of 5G technology.
So they've come to you and they said, "What do we do?
How do we respond?"
So my question for you is,
"What advice or facts are you gonna give them?"
Just a quick recap.
Your company makes IOT devices, you're really excited
about what 5G networks are gonna make possible
but boy oh boy, your social media is being bombarded
about the dangers of 5G technology,
probably 'cause you've been putting these great posts out
of, "With 5G, lightning speed,
this is what our product can do."
And they don't know what to say, the marketing team,
they're just dismayed and flummoxed.
And they came to you and said, "How do we respond?"
So go ahead and put me on pause.
I want you to kind of write down what advice
or facts are you gonna give them?
Then come on back and we'll talk through 'em together.
So here might be your advice, your facts,
your recommendations.
5G's been blamed for everything,
from mind control to the Coronavirus.
All scientific evidence points to 5G
in its current form being non-harmful to humans
because like its predecessors, it uses radio signals
over a range of frequency bands
to transmit and receive voice and data.
What's really different is how they aggregate those bands.
Now, a really good resource for facts
and myth busting is an independent organization
like the WHO, the World Health Organization.
So perhaps you do a little research, you give them a link,
this happens to be a really excellent article
about the fact that 5G radiation is not harmful.
And we suggest to the marketing department
that in response, right, they just use science, use facts,
use links to reputable sources.
Are there still gonna be people
who are gonna believe the conspiracy theories
no matter what?
Absolutely, but if your organization can show
that they are calm, cool, collected,
and fact-based, opposed to just flummoxed,
dealing with all of these controversies,
you'll come off looking much better
and doing that well definitely, security and action.
All right, there is your word cloud.
You know what to do, when you're ready,
I'll see you at the next lesson.