5G Technology: New Challenges for Law Enforcement Agencies to Face

Abstract

An ever-expanding digital universe, also thanks to 5G technology, is becoming an area of confrontation  not  only  in  terms  of  economic  investment  and  resource  allocation,  but  also  with  regard to risks in relations among countries and for national security. After briefly discussing the main features of this new technology, its impact on the global economy and the strategy developed by the European Union to map and regulate the phenomenon, this paper aims to identify the main challenges for Law Enforcement Agencies, with particular regard to the technical methods of lawful interception in Italy. In this perspective, reference is made to the criticalities posed  by  5G  technology  in  terms  of  end-to-end  encryption,  identification  and  localisation  of  users, virtual and fragmented architecture, “N.F.V.” function, Internet of Things and authenticity of  digital  evidence.  The  possible  answer  to  these  issues,  such  as  the  fostering  of  A.I.  tools,  will  have to be found in the awareness that international cooperation, in a borderless digital space further amplified by 5G technology, will have to be increasingly implemented.