Author: openjargon

• Donald Trump may win the 2024 presidential election, sending him back to the White House.
• His second administration could be far more radical than the first one.
• That includes efforts to gut the federal bureaucracy and reduce constraints on Trump's power.

In January 2025, Donald Trump may be sworn into office as the 47th President of the United States.

Despite his ongoing legal troubles, plenty of national polling shows the former president being either tied or leading President Joe Biden,

A second term for Biden could mean either more of the same or a flurry of new progressive policies, if Democrats gain control of both chambers of Congress.

Another Trump term, on the other hand, would likely entail a radical reversal from not just the previous four years, but even from Trump's first term in office.

That becomes clear after examining the former president's campaign proposals, reading his April interview with TIME, reviewing reporting from The New York Times, and perusing proposals made by the conservative Heritage Foundation's Project 2025.

Some of these proposals may depend on Republicans gaining control of both the House and Senate, a likely possibility — though not guaranteed — if Trump wins the presidency.

While not exhaustive, here's just some of what to expect in a second Trump administration.

Radically reshaping the federal bureaucracy

Perhaps the most unorthodox — and to some, frightening — aspects of Trump's planning for a second term involve restructuring the executive branch in a manner that would drastically increase presidential power.

That includes exercising more direct control over the hundreds of thousands of civilian servants who populate federal agencies — many of whom are apolitical, and often remain in their jobs across presidential administrations.

Trump has pledged to bring back "Schedule F," a classification for civil servants that was created — but never used — in October 2020. Biden later rescinded it after taking office. That classification was designed to skirt the typical job protections afforded to career civil servants.

Trump's plans also include bringing independent agencies — such as the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission — under direct presidential control, a departure from decades of precedent. That could also include the Federal Reserve, the country's central banking system, though that's less clear.

Lastly, he has pledged to bring back "impoundment," in which the executive branch refuses to spend money provided by Congress. That's been illegal since 1974, but Trump is pledging to challenge it.

One of the hallmarks of Trump's first term was that he was significantly constrained, both by his advisors and aspects of the federal bureaucracy. Taken together, these proposals show how that could change.

A murky stance on abortion

In April, Trump declared that he believed abortion should be decided at the state level, seemingly rejecting the idea of enacting nationwide restrictions on the procedure.

"The states are going to say. It's irrelevant whether I'm comfortable or not," Trump told TIME. "It's totally irrelevant, because the states are going to make those decisions."

But that doesn't fully address the complexity of the issue — and it's unclear how far other Republicans may go.

In an April interview with TIME, Trump refused to say whether he would veto abortion restrictions passed by a Republican-controlled Congress, insisting there "will never be that chance because it won't happen."

He has also refused to state his position on whether mifepristone — a medication that enabled an estimated 63% of abortions in the US in 2023 — should remain legal.

Some of his allies have called for the enforcement of a 19th-century law called the Comstock Act that could be used to outlaw the mailing of the pill, a move that would affect women in a variety of states.

The potential of mass deportations and ending some birthright citizenship

Trump is expected to take a far more harsh approach toward illegal immigration and border security if elected — including pledging to carry out a massive deportation operation that could include the use of the National Guard.

That could include new detention camps, according to Stephen Miller, the architect of much of Trump's immigration policy.

Miller told The New York Times that a second Trump administration would build "vast holding facilities that would function as staging centers" on "open land in Texas near the border."

Trump has also pledged to end so-called "birthright citizenship" for the children of people who entered the country illegally and are not citizens. But it could be tricky.

The US Constitution guarantees birthright citizenship via the 14th Amendment, which states that "all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

Trump has pledged to sign an executive order making clear that those children are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States — a move likely to be challenged in court.

Retribution against political opponents

Trump has pledged to appoint a special prosecutor to go after the Biden family, arguing that it's only fair given that he has faced criminal charges across a variety of jurisdictions for his "hush money" payments, his mishandling of classified documents, and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

It's part of a broader effort by Trump and his allies to curtail the independence of the Department of Justice, the nation's top law enforcement agency. Since the Nixon era, there have been strong norms around keeping the department at arm's length from the president, but some argue that shouldn't be the case — and that the present-day norms are a facade anyway.

Pardoning January 6 rioters

Trump has also promised to issue pardons for those who've faced federal convictions in connection to the January 6 assault on the US Capitol.

He has described jailed or imprisoned rioters as "hostages" and "political prisoners," and his campaign rallies have at times begun with a version of the national anthem sung by January 6 defendants.

In a recent interview with TIME, he said that he would not pardon those who were "evil and bad," but claimed that many of the rioters were "ushered in" by Capitol Police.

Tariffs on all imported goods

If re-elected, the former president has proposed many protectionist policies, including universal 10% tariffs on all imported goods.

"I call it a ring around the country," Trump told TIME.

Experts have warned that such a policy would simply increase consumer costs while doing little to boost domestic manufacturing and jobs.

He has also pledged to work with Congress to pass a bill enacting "reciprocal" tariffs on goods from other countries: For example, if China were to enact a 100% tariff on products from the US, the US would enact a 100% tariffs on Chinese-made goods in return.

Less willingness to protect allies abroad

Trump's positioning on the present-day wars has been somewhat murky — he's not as opposed to Ukraine aid as much of his party, and he's been far more willing to criticize Israel's war in Gaza.

"I think that Israel has done one thing very badly: public relations," Trump told TIME, blaming Israel in part for the lack of progress on a two-state solution.

But if there's been one consistent throughline of the former president's foreign policy thinking, it's a suspicion of long-standing arrangements designed to underpin the global world order.

Perhaps the most significant change Trump wants to see is a "reevaluation" of the purpose of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an alliance between the US and Europe that dates back to the Cold War. Trump has long argued that the US is spending too much to defend the continent.

Trump has also argued that much of the existing foreign policy establishment in Washington, DC needs to be overhauled, deriding officials at the State Department and Pentagon as "warmongers" and members of the "deep state."

Tax policy

As president, Trump and the Republican-led Congress passed the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, a significant overhaul of the tax code that included cuts to individual and estate taxes and a significant lowering of the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.

Much of those cuts, aside from the corporate tax cut, are set to expire in 2025. According to Bloomberg, Trump wants to extend those cuts in a second term.

More vaguely, Trump has also proposed taxing private university endowments to fund a new federally-operated university called the "American Academy."

Social Security and Medicare

It remains unclear whether Trump would seek cuts to Social Security and Medicare in a second term — he's historically said a variety of contradictory things on the matter.

In March, Trump said in a CNBC interview that there's "a lot you can do in terms of entitlements in terms of cutting," seemingly suggesting that he would pursue cuts to entitlement programs. His campaign later backtracked on those remarks, saying he simply wanted to "get rid of waste and fraud."

Democrats have been eager to highlight the possibility of Republican-led cuts to the programs, which primarily benefit older Americans, while Republicans have often insisted that they are not interested in making changes to those programs.

During the final year of Trump's presidency, his White House released a budget for Fiscal Year 2021 that included some cuts to Social Security benefits, though the document never became law.

• Google is shifting to AI-generated answers for search queries to keep users on its site.
• This shift raises concerns about the reliability of AI answers and the impact on web traffic.
• The move risks disrupting Google's ad revenue model and the broader internet ecosystem.

Google is the internet's gatekeeper. You ask it a question, and it sends you to a site on the internet that can answer that question for you.

Except that's not really the case anymore. Google frequently tries to answer your question itself, on Google-owned real estate, so you have no need to go anywhere else. And now the company is super-sizing that effort with AI-generated answers that are going to be the standard reply for all search in the near future.

One problem with that plan is that generative AI engines just make things up. The other, more existential problem for both Google and the internet: If Google is answering all of your queries on its own site, why would you go anywhere else?

People who make a living putting things on the internet have been freaking out about this future for some time. But there's a risk for Google, too: If people aren't putting things on the internet, what will Google use to create answers?

The Atlantic's Charlie Warzel wonders about all of this and doesn't have an answer (Charlie does know how to get you to click on a story, though — call your story "The Toilet Theory of the Internet"). I don't think Google knows, either, which is partly why the company's answers to questions people are asking about all of this — including from CEO Sundar Pichai — are both vague and hard to take at face value.

One question I haven't seen addressed in most of these stories: Doesn't Google have to keep sending people to websites? Because selling sponsored links to websites is the economic engine that makes the $2 trillion company run. So this is all going to be messy — for Google, for web publishers, and the rest of us.

• Microsoft is expected to unveil updates on Copilot, Azure, and its Surface lineup this week.
• Analysts say Microsoft's AI and cloud innovations are underestimated by the stock market.
• Wedbush analysts projected that Microsoft's AI tools could generate $25-$30 billion in revenue by 2025.

It's about to be a big week for Microsoft.

Microsoft is in the spotlight as it follows major announcements from OpenAI and Google last week and prepares to unveil its latest AI innovations at Build, the company's annual developer conference.

The tech giant is also holding an exclusive event for journalists on Monday detailing its vision for hardware, which will likely feature its new Surface lineup along with some software updates.

The next day is the main event, Microsoft's Build keynote, where it's expected to announce updates to its AI assistant Copilot and cloud computing platform Azure, along with other Windows features.

Wedbush analysts said in a Monday note that they believe Microsoft's AI and cloud advancements have been underestimated by the stock market — but Microsoft tools like Copilot will be a major source of revenue growth that could generate between $25 and $30 billion for Microsoft by its fiscal year 2025.

According to Dan Ives, Wedbush's managing director and senior equity analyst, Microsoft's big week is expected to be all about three things — here's what's expected to be front and center.

Copilot and other AI features in Windows

Wedbush analysts expect Microsoft to roll out more Copilot and AI features into its consumer and enterprise product stack.

Wedbush said in its analyst note that it expects more AI integration with Microsoft apps like Excel, Teams, and Word, which will increase subscriptions and strengthen Microsoft's consumer base.

Over 70% of Microsoft's installed base "will ultimately be on this AI-driven functionality" in the next three years, the analyst said, which will be a big change for the company.

Ives said putting AI features into Windows will give developers the foundation to build AI use cases through Windows and, ultimately, Azure.

Showcasing AI framework in Azure

Ives said in some ways, the most important aspect of the developer conference is going to be showing off the AI framework in Azure.

In its analyst note, Wedbush estimated that Microsoft's customers still have plenty of room to increase their spending with the company. For every $100 they spend on Azure, there is an estimated $35-$40 in potential additional AI spending, they wrote.

"Cloud is where the battleground is between Google, Oracle, Amazon," Ives said. "Microsoft is showing developers to look no further than between us and OpenAI."

Surface Updates

Wedbush analysts anticipate new laptops along with Windows updates this week.

The new hardware expected to be announced on Monday, the day before Build kicks off, could include the Surface Pro 10 and the Surface Laptop 6, The Verge reports. Both would run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processors as the company transitions to Arm, The Verge said.

New processors would come as Microsoft and other PC companies have been under pressure to ramp up their processing chips since Apple transitioned to creating its own. Recent reports also indicate that Apple is working on revamping its entire Mac lineup with a series of new M4 processors that aim to put AI at their center.

But Microsoft's Surface updates may kick off the trend. Ives said the new AI Surface updates will start a new PC-driven cycle that's "AI-led, from Dell to Microsoft, and ultimately to Apple as well."

Expect it to be a 'showstopper'

Microsoft has big shoes to fill following OpenAI's spring update and Google's I/O conference last week. Both companies announced human-like updates to their AI products, showcasing their AI agent's ability to respond to prompts with voice and act as a tutor.

Google also announced a revamped search engine integrated with AI, which competes with Microsft's AI-powered Bing.

But according to Ives, Microsoft will be a "showstopper." Due to OpenAI's collaboration with Microsoft, Ives said the conference will build on OpenAI's announcements from last week.

Business Insider will be liveblogging Microsoft's big opening keynote on Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET, so check back with us then to follow along.

• A lawyer for a heiress used her "like a human ATM," prosecutors allege. 
• The heiress Gretchen Valade's grandfather founded the workwear brand Carhartt.
• Her attorney, David Sutherland, is accused of stealing millions from her trusts before her death.

Carhartt heiress Gretchen Valade's longtime lawyer is facing trial over accusations that he embezzled millions of dollars from the philanthropist in her final years of life.

The Michigan criminal trial of David Sutherland, an attorney who managed two trusts for Valade, began in Wayne County Criminal Court last week.

During opening remarks on Thursday, an assistant attorney general accused Sutherland of using Valade of using her "like a human ATM," the Detroit Free Press reported.

Valade, a philanthropist and businesswoman whose grandfather started the Carhartt workwear company in 1889, died in December 2022 at the age of 97.

She was known in Michigan as the "Angel of Jazz" for her work saving the Detroit Jazz Festival, according to Michigan Public.

Sutherland was charged just weeks after Valade's death in 2023 with one count of conducting a criminal enterprise, two counts of embezzling more than $100,000, and one count of embezzling more than $100,000 from a vulnerable adult, according to the Michigan attorney general's office.

The felony counties each carry a maximum 20-year sentence.

Sutherland has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Attorneys for Sutherland did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

The Michigan attorney general's office alleges that Sutherland issued himself a series of loans without Valade's permission from her 1982 revocable trust and her 2009 irrevocable trust, both of which he managed.

"Trust. That's what this case is really about. Trust and betrayal," Scott Teter, division chief of the financial crimes division for the Attorney General's Office, said during opening remarks last week, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Teter told the jury that despite already billing Valade $19,000 a month for his services, Sutherland also secretly wrote himself two promissory notes for $5 million each from Valade's trusts, leaving "no note, no I.O.U., no nothin,'" the Detroit Free Press reported.

Teter also accused Sutherland of using the stolen money to pay for two of his failing businesses, a Florida pizza franchise and a Michigan oil company, according to the outlet.

"Mr. Sutherland abused his authority as an attorney and trusted advisor to steal millions from a long-time client and must be held accountable," Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in 2023 press release.

• Apple's new Pencil Pro shows the tech giant really thought of everything in its latest launch.
• A viral TikTok highlighted a subtle detail in the stylus that is "so Apple."
• The Pencil Pro launched May 7 alongside the new M4 iPad.

The new Apple Pencil Pro comes with a subtle yet surprising new feature.

The pencil stylus was launched on May 7 at the "Let Loose" event alongside the new M4 iPad Pro and iPad Air. Apple showed off the capabilities of the new Pencil Pro, but a recent TikTok revealed another feature that highlights the tech giant's attention to detail.

A designer who goes by Oliur online posted a video demonstrating how the Pencil Pro casts an artificial shadow over an iPad depending on which tool is selected, mimicking the shadow of a real pen a user would choose.

In the viral video, the creator chose a fountain pen to write with, and a shadow of the pen could be seen on the iPad screen as he held the stylus closer to the new OLED display.

"This is so ridiculous and so over the top, but just so Apple as well," Oliur said.

It's unclear if the detail is only present in graphic-design software Procreate, where artists can press the barrel of the Pencil Pro to prompt shortcuts to a range of tools, such as brushes, a marker, and more.

The new stylus starts at $129 and comes with "Find My" compatibility.

Apple didn't immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.

• Michael Cohen testified that he would financially benefit if Donald Trump is acquitted.
• It gives him more to talk about on his podcasts and in a future book.
• Cohen isn't shutting up any time soon — he said he might run for US Congress.

Michael Cohen wants to see Donald Trump behind bars.

But if the former president is acquitted in his ongoing hush-money trial, it'd probably be better for Cohen financially, he testified Monday morning.

Asked by Trump's lawyer Todd Blanche whether a conviction would benefit Cohen financially, he said the opposite was true.

"The answer is 'no,'" Cohen said.

If Trump walks free, Cohen may be able to make more money from his podcast and a potential third book.

"It's better if he's not, for me, because it gives me more to talk about in the future," Cohen said.

Blanche completed his third day of cross-examining Cohen Monday, seeking to depict him to jurors as a liar and scoundrel out for vengeance against Trump.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office accused Trump of falsifying 34 business documents in order to reimburse Cohen for hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Trump's lawyers have said that Cohen went rogue when making the hush-money payments and that Trump wasn't involved in the scheme.

Cohen, a former personal lawyer to Trump and Trump Organization executive, has had his own share of legal trouble.

He pleaded guilty in 2018 to breaking campaign finance laws with the hush-money payment, as well as to an array of tax crimes and lying to Congress about Trump's business dealings.

In the years since Cohen has turned into a wrathful Trump critic. He served a stint in prison, has written two books — "Disloyal" and "Revenge" — and hosts two podcasts about his decadelong journey in Trump's orbit.

Blanche, in his cross-examination, suggested that Cohen's media output gives him a financial interest in the outcome of the criminal trial.

Cohen has testified that he's made about $4.4 million since September 2020, from book sales, his podcasts, and sales of podcast-affiliated merchandise.

Cohen lost his law license as a result of his guilty pleas and testified he had sold multiple properties he owned. Nearly all of his income comes from book sales and podcast deals, with additional funds coming from a lease on one remaining investment property he owns, and an additional negligible sum from TikTok, he testified.

He has also shopped around a reality show about his life called "The Fixer," he said on the witness stand Monday. No studio has picked it up yet, he said.

Cohen said, regardless of how the trial turns out, he would be talking about the case. He said he is considering writing a third book and running for US Congress.

"Whether Mr. Trump is ultimately determined innocent or guilty is not going to affect whether I speak about it or not," Cohen said.

• Trump has yet to chose a VP candidate, but several names are in the mix.
• A new poll shows that Rep. Elise Stefanik would have the most negative impact on the ticket.
• Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott would have the most positive effect, according to the poll.

Donald Trump still has yet to choose someone to be his running mate.

One element that the former president and presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee will have to consider, among other factors, is the impact that each of the vice presidential contenders will have on the ticket overall.

If a new Harvard CAPS-Harris poll released on Monday is to be believed, there are several options that could give Trump a significant boost — and others that would be a significant drag.

Among the contenders polled, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York — who, as House GOP conference chair, is the highest-ranking woman in Washington — would be the biggest drag on the ticket.

24% of all voters say they would be less likely to support a Trump ticket with her on it, while just 13% said they would be more likely to do so.

It's bad even within her own party: 22% of GOP respondents said they would be less likely to vote for Trump if Stefanik was on the ticket, while just 12% said they would be more likely to do so.

Those results put her below North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a lesser-known contender, as well as South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who's recently made headlines for killing her own dog and dubiously claiming to have met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

The poll, conducted between May 15 and 16 among 1,660 registered voters, does not explain why Stefanik ranks so low.

While she was among the first House Republicans to endorse Trump's 2024 campaign, it's possible that GOP voters are still aware of her past as a moderate, Trump-skeptic lawmaker.

The poll also found that Stefanik remains relatively unknown to the average voter — 20% have a favorable impression of her, 22% have an unfavorable impression, and 56% either have no opinion, or haven't heard of her.

Meanwhile, the poll showed that the biggest boons for the Trump ticket would be Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy — both of whom challenged Trump for the nomination this year — as well as Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida.

In each case, the majority of voters — ranging between 54% and 64% — indicated that Trump's VP choice wouldn't affect their decision at all.

Here's how each VP contender polled among all voters:

• Sen. Tim Scott — 25% more likely, 19% less likely;
• Vivek Ramaswamy — 23% more likely, 13% less likely;
• Sen. Marco Rubio — 22% more likely, 22% less likely;
• Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard — 19% more likely, 20% less likely;
• Gov. Kristi Noem — 16% more likely, 23% less likely;
• Gov. Doug Burgum — 15% more likely, 21% less likely;
• Rep. Elise Stefanik — 13% more likely, 24% less likely.

• Cargo vessels account for nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, underscoring a need for energy-efficient solutions.
• WISAMO from Michelin is a new automated wing sail design that harnesses the wind for propulsion.
• Its innovative design, with a goal of lowering carbon emissions by up to 50%, can propel the maritime industry to a more sustainable future.

Long before cargo vessels hauled millions of gallons of oil to fuel their voyages, merchant ships hoisted their sails using the wind. An innovative new design is bringing these sails back using groundbreaking 21st-century technology that could propel the maritime industry to a greener, more sustainable future.

WISAMO from Michelin — its name is a combination of the words wing, sail, and mobility — is an inflatable, retractable, and automated wing sail. While it's not intended to replace ships' engines entirely, it lightens their loads and decreases their dependence on fuel. According to Michelin, the company that manufactured the design, the goal is to cut carbon emissions by up to 20% for existing ships and up to 50% for newly-built models.

"It is a revolutionary design that harnesses the wind — a free, universal, and inexhaustible source of propulsion," Gildas Quemeneur, executive director of WISAMO, said. "Decarbonization has become a vital way to limit environmental impact, and solutions need to come in many different forms. WISAMO is an important innovation that can help the maritime industry reach its ambitious goals."

An industry ripe for transformation

Energy-efficient solutions are sorely needed in the maritime industry, which transports 90% of the world's goods. The average size of container ships has doubled in the last 20 years, and the vessels now account for nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

To improve its environmental profile, the International Maritime Organization has set a goal of cutting carbon emissions by at least 20% by 2030 and 70% by 2040, intending to reach carbon net zero by 2050. Ships must make drastic changes to achieve these goals — a daunting task considering that 99% rely on conventional heavy fuel oil. WISAMO was introduced as a solution at Michelin's 2021 Movin'On World Summit for Sustainable Mobility, a forum of over 5,000 public and private stakeholders seeking to solve the challenges of sustainable transportation. Michelin's engineers began testing WISAMO on French sailing champion Michel Desjoyeaux's yacht later that year. 

Designed to propel into the future 

Unlike a traditional sail, which has a flat surface, WISAMO from Michelin is inflatable, reducing mechanical stress and increasing durability. When conditions are suitable for capturing the wind, small fans inside the sail fill it with air as a telescopic mast raises it high above the deck. When the ship returns to port, passes under a bridge, or encounters winds above 55 knots, the mast lowers and the sail deflates into neat folds atop the deck. 

These actions are performed digitally and automatically, with sensors determining optimal settings for smooth, efficient sailing. The sail is simple to install and operate, and can be used by commercial ships and pleasure craft alike.

"The WISAMO wing sail has one of the broadest ranges of wind use on the market, with proven effectiveness on many points of sail. It is particularly efficient upwind," Gildas Quemeneur said.

Its automated operation is critical for cargo ships, which are sparsely crewed with staff who may lack sailing experience. Retractable sails make loading and unloading freight easy, especially for "ro-ro ships" that carry cars, motorcycles, buses, and other vehicles, which are typically rolled onto the deck and rolled off at their destination.

After gaining feedback from Desjoyeaux, Michelin began testing a second prototype on the Compagnie Maritime Nantaise ro-ro ship MN Pelican. The ship's routes include the Bay of Biscay, notorious for its rough seas and strong winter winds. The robust WISAMO from Michelin has stood up well to these conditions, and the Pelican's captain and crew say they are impressed with its efficient operation.

While the current model of WISAMO from Michelin measures 1,076 square feet, Michelin is developing a larger version that reaches 8,611 square feet. Large container ships could deploy as many as six of the large sails. The first commercial deliveries are planned for 2026. 

Carrying and using less heavy fuel oil could also help shipping companies save money, and Michelin estimates the WISAMO will pay for itself in about five years. After that, it will continue to generate additional savings throughout its lifecycle.  

With its automated, easy-to-use features, WISAMO from Michelin is a boon for commercial and pleasure ships seeking energy-efficient solutions. Its innovative wind sail design could speed the shipping industry toward its environmental goals and significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. 

Learn more about WISAMO from Michelin and other innovations here. 

This post was created by Insider Studios with Michelin.

• Companies are leveraging 5G, which requires new cybersecurity approaches.
• Professionals at the RSA Conference shared insights on securing 5G devices and networks.
• This article is part of "5G and Connectivity Playbook," a series exploring some of our time's most important tech innovations.

Increasingly, companies are leveraging 5G connectivity, whether through 5G mobile devices or Internet of Things technology. This means they need to evolve the way they think about cybersecurity.

Business Insider spoke with several cybersecurity professionals at the annual RSA Conference, which took place from May 6 to 9 in San Francisco. They shared advice on how companies could improve cybersecurity as they moved into the age of 5G.

"For the office, factories, sites, campuses, 5G should be seen as an active replacement for WiFi," Nathan Howe, the group vice president of innovation at Zscaler, said. "This requires some serious rethinking, but the advantages are massive — once you get past that initial shock in terms of difference. Private 5G networks will change the way in which everything connects."

Overall, professionals said that companies should think about cybersecurity from the beginning.

"It's much cheaper thinking about cybersecurity when building something rather than thinking about cybersecurity when it's already built," Andrea Carcano, a cofounder and the chief product officer of Nozomi Networks, said.

Here are cybersecurity professionals' best practices for securing 5G devices and networks.

Inspect and secure 5G devices

Many customers are still trying to understand how to fully use 5G. Increasingly, organizations purchase and manage their own private 5G infrastructure.

If they do this, they must conduct thorough security assessments, inspect the quality of the IoT products they use, and follow manufacturer guidelines on how to secure them, Boaz Gelbord, Akamai's chief security officer, said.

Additionally, professionals said companies should understand what's connected to the 5G networks they're using and hold their vendors accountable for security, ensuring they make updates to software and hardware and mend any vulnerabilities.

Use a zero-trust approach

Several professionals pointed to using a zero-trust approach, which means systems should never trust anything entering the network and should verify all devices, requests, and users. This includes security controls over which users can access the network and which systems on the network can communicate with each other.

"Zero trust really goes hand in hand with 5G," Donna Johnson, Cradlepoint's chief marketing officer, said. "Even as your attack surface widens, you've narrowed the potential impact of any attack that can get through."

As part of this approach, companies should have visibility into the traffic of their 5G networks and continuously validate and monitor end-point devices on those networks. That's because as more devices get connected to 5G networks, the bigger the attack surface becomes.

"From an attacker's perspective, the more things connected to it, the more gold mines there are for them to attack," Christine Gadsby, the vice president of product security at BlackBerry, said.

It's also important to have a powerful enforcement layer, including enforcement policies and controls over which devices are permitted to access the network, Darren Guccione, the CEO and a cofounder of Keeper Security, said.

"We make sure the right person, on the right device, at the right time, at the right location has access to very specific systems based on their role," Guccione said.

With more IoT devices, there are even more ways to communicate across 5G networks. Companies should use tools to check whether rogue devices are on their 5G networks.

"Because 5G includes IoT, it's going to open up a whole world of issues with monitoring communication," Megha Kalsi, a partner at AlixPartners, said. "As an industry, we also need to figure out how to monitor some of that communication using 5G."

Analyze risks

Finally, companies should analyze their risks, the services they use, and how much of their data is exposed. They should consider possible entry points for hackers and how they can mitigate issues as they transition to 5G.

This is crucial, given the significant gap between the speed at which bad actors can exploit vulnerabilities and the speed at which an organization can patch its vulnerabilities.

Companies need to "go above and beyond best practices," Jimmy Mesta, the chief technology officer and a cofounder of RAD Security, said. They need to monitor for anomalies, verify workloads, and properly configure the products they use. As generative artificial intelligence is increasingly used in cybersecurity, some tasks can be automated.

Increased use of 5G calls for updated security practices. "A lot of the standard practices today will not work," Carcano said. "That's the main risk. Someone will use 5G technology and try to apply old-school methodology to perform cybersecurity, but 5G will change and expand boundaries and work more in a zero-trust network when potentially everything is at risk."