People are just realizing what the 'G' in 5G stands for
But the 'G' in 3G, 4G — and of course, 5G — actually stands for 'generation'. It refers to the evolution of wireless technology, with each new generation offering faster and more reliable data connections. In simple terms, 5G is the fifth generation of mobile networks — and yes, it's faster than the versions before it. A recent post on X (formerly Twitter) by MTN Uganda, the country's largest telecom provider, posed a question to users: 'Without Googling, what does the 'G' in 4G and 5G stand for? A) Generation B) Gigabyte C) Google D) Grid.' Many users were quick to answer — and just as quickly got it wrong, with 'gigabyte' being a common (and incorrect) guess.
This is because the two Gs represent different concepts and therefore are not evenly comparable. The evolution of the G system started in 1980 with the invention of the mobile phone which allowed for analogue data to be transmitted via phone calls. Digital came into play in 1991 with 2G and SMS and MMS capabilities were launched. Since then, the capabilities and carrying capacity for the mobile network has increased massively.
More data can be transferred from one point to another via the mobile network quicker than ever. 5G debuted in South Korea in April 2019. During the Covid pandemic, US researchers investigated the effects of radio-frequency radiation generated by the ultra-fast mobile internet and revealed that it had negligible health impacts. The study came after several 5G masts were vandalized during lockdowns following unfounded conspiracy theories saying the form of wireless communication caused Covid.
Theorists claimed the fifth-generation wireless standard emitted radiation that lowers the immune system. Despite providing essential communications technology during the pandemic, 5G masts were subject to arson attacks throughout the UK. In their research paper, published in PLOS ONE, the team wrote that the potential for health effects from higher radio-frequency radiation should be examined as concerns 'over their potential health impacts are ongoing'.
To learn more, researchers conducted experiments using embryonic zebrafish, an organism often used to discover interactions between potential environmental stressors and biological systems. Around 70 percent of human genes are found in zebrafish, according to scientists, which makes them well suited as lab models. Zebrafish and humans have similar developmental processes and are similar on a genomic level, meaning the results of experiments on them can be confidently applied to humans.
Dr Dasgupta and his colleagues exposed embryonic zebrafish for two days to 3.5 GHz radio-frequency radiation – the frequency typically used by 5G-enabled phones. The zebrafish embryos were placed on plates, which were put inside a box made of copper dubbed 'the exposure chamber'. The radiation entered the box through an antennae and the copper kept the radiation from escaping. The experts found no significant impacts on mortality, how the embryos formed or their behavioral response to light.
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The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
Qantas attack reveals one phone call is all it takes to crack cybersecurity's weakest link: humans
All it can take is a phone call. That's what Qantas learned this week when the personal information of up to 6 million customers was stolen by cybercriminals after attackers targeted an offshore IT call centre, enabling them to access a third-party system. It is the latest in a series of cyber-attacks on large companies in Australia involving the personal information of millions of Australians, after the attack on Optus, Medibank and, most recently, Australia's $4t superannuation sector. The Qantas attack came just days after US authorities warned the airline sector had been targeted by a group known as Scattered Spider, using social engineering techniques, including impersonating employees or contractors to deceive IT help desks into granting access, and bypassing multi-factor authentication. While companies may spend millions keeping their systems secure and software up-to-date to plug known vulnerabilities, hackers can turn to this form of attack to target, often, the weakest link – humans. Social engineering is not new. It predates the internet, involving tricking someone into providing compromising information. The most common way people would see social engineering in practice is through phishing attacks – emails that are designed to look official to lure unsuspecting people into providing their login and passwords. The phone-call version of social engineering, known as vishing, can be more complicated for the attacker, requiring research into a company and its employees, and tactics to sound convincing over the phone to get the unwitting worker to let them in. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The arrival of easy-to-use artificial intelligence products, including voice cloning, will only make this easier for attackers. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's most recent data breaches report, covering the second half of 2024, noted a significant rise in reports of breaches caused by social engineering attacks, with government agencies reporting the most, followed by finance and health. The Qantas breach – that compromised information including names, email addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and frequent flyer numbers – in isolation might not lead to financial loss, but the growing number of data breaches in Australia means hackers are able to collate data collected across the breaches and potentially launch attacks on unsuspecting new targets. In April, the nation's superannuation funds became aware of the dangers of hackers collecting compromised login details from other breaches to gain access to super accounts, in what is termed credential stuffing. The industry was fortunate only a handful of customers suffered losses, together approximately $500,000 – likely a combination of the funds locking down systems, and the high proportion of fund holders who have yet to reach the age where they can access their super. The Albanese government, however, has been warned that the attack was a canary in the coalmine for the financial sector. In advice to the incoming government in May – released this week under freedom of information laws – the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (Apra) warned super assets were at risk. 'Cyber-attacks at large superannuation funds, that look likely to increase in scope and frequency, highlight that capability in the management of cyber and operational risks must improve,' Apra said. 'While the number of member accounts that had funds fraudulently withdrawn was small, the incident highlighted the need for this sector to uplift its cybersecurity and operational resilience maturity. 'This need will only grow as the sector increases in size, more members enter retirement and the sector takes on greater systemic significance with inter-linkages to the banking sector.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Apra had warned the sector in 2023 of the importance of multi-factor authentication – something some of the funds had failed to implement before the April attack. The regulator said there were also sustained cyber-attacks on banking and insurance businesses, and third-party providers that were 'continuing to test resilience and defences as attackers develop new technologies and approaches'. Healthcare, finance, technology and critical infrastructure, such as telecommunications, were most at risk from cyber threats, according to Craig Searle, global leader of cyber advisory at global cybersecurity firm Trustwave. 'The technology sector is uniquely exposed due to its central role in digital infrastructure and interconnected supply chains,' he said. 'An attack on a single tech provider can cascade to hundreds or thousands of downstream clients, as seen in recent high-profile supply chain breaches. 'Overall, the sectors most at risk are those with high-value data, complex supply chains, and critical service delivery.' Searle said attackers like Scattered Spider deliberately targeted third-party systems and outsourced IT support, as seen in the Qantas breach, representing a risk for large companies. 'The interconnected nature of digital supply chains means a vulnerability or misconfiguration in a partner or contractor can trigger a domino effect, exposing sensitive data and operations far beyond the initial breach,' he said. 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'The no-limits approach of these criminals pushes us to rethink the typical boundary of defence, in particular surrounding social engineering and the ways in which we can be taken advantage of.'
Daily Mail
11 hours ago
- Daily Mail
People are just realizing what the 'G' in 5G stands for
Think you know what the 'G' in 5G stands for? You're probably wrong. While most cellphone users don't spend much time questioning the tech jargon behind their data speeds, there's a widespread misconception about that one letter. Many assume 'G' stands for 'gigabyte' — and while that's technically true for 10G, it's not the case for 3G, 4G, or 5G. Adding to the confusion, each 'G' doesn't even mean the same thing. A quick scroll through social media reveals just how many people are getting it wrong. But the 'G' in 3G, 4G — and of course, 5G — actually stands for 'generation'. It refers to the evolution of wireless technology, with each new generation offering faster and more reliable data connections. In simple terms, 5G is the fifth generation of mobile networks — and yes, it's faster than the versions before it. A recent post on X (formerly Twitter) by MTN Uganda, the country's largest telecom provider, posed a question to users: 'Without Googling, what does the 'G' in 4G and 5G stand for? A) Generation B) Gigabyte C) Google D) Grid.' Many users were quick to answer — and just as quickly got it wrong, with 'gigabyte' being a common (and incorrect) guess. This is because the two Gs represent different concepts and therefore are not evenly comparable. The evolution of the G system started in 1980 with the invention of the mobile phone which allowed for analogue data to be transmitted via phone calls. Digital came into play in 1991 with 2G and SMS and MMS capabilities were launched. Since then, the capabilities and carrying capacity for the mobile network has increased massively. More data can be transferred from one point to another via the mobile network quicker than ever. 5G debuted in South Korea in April 2019. During the Covid pandemic, US researchers investigated the effects of radio-frequency radiation generated by the ultra-fast mobile internet and revealed that it had negligible health impacts. The study came after several 5G masts were vandalized during lockdowns following unfounded conspiracy theories saying the form of wireless communication caused Covid. Theorists claimed the fifth-generation wireless standard emitted radiation that lowers the immune system. Despite providing essential communications technology during the pandemic, 5G masts were subject to arson attacks throughout the UK. In their research paper, published in PLOS ONE, the team wrote that the potential for health effects from higher radio-frequency radiation should be examined as concerns 'over their potential health impacts are ongoing'. To learn more, researchers conducted experiments using embryonic zebrafish, an organism often used to discover interactions between potential environmental stressors and biological systems. Around 70 percent of human genes are found in zebrafish, according to scientists, which makes them well suited as lab models. Zebrafish and humans have similar developmental processes and are similar on a genomic level, meaning the results of experiments on them can be confidently applied to humans. Dr Dasgupta and his colleagues exposed embryonic zebrafish for two days to 3.5 GHz radio-frequency radiation – the frequency typically used by 5G-enabled phones. The zebrafish embryos were placed on plates, which were put inside a box made of copper dubbed 'the exposure chamber'. The radiation entered the box through an antennae and the copper kept the radiation from escaping. The experts found no significant impacts on mortality, how the embryos formed or their behavioral response to light.
The Independent
14 hours ago
- The Independent
A beer pioneer, South Africa's first Black female brewery owner trains a new generation
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