Even the general public will be dimly aware of the distinction between the periphery and core of 5G networks from the security perspective, after all the US efforts to expunge Huawei’s from national infrastructures. The periphery, just a popular word for RAN, is considered a lower security risk because it is less susceptible to external attack over the internet and that is why Huawei was sometimes allowed to participate in that but not the core. More generally, the Huawei saga illustrates the wider dilemma over 5G security, which is that while undoubtedly defences are stronger, so is the exposure to attack. Cybersecurity experts like to talk about the attack surface expanding with 5G, but that is rather a canard. It…