Quick Hits

***The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a new infographic outlining risk factors organizations should consider regarding 5G networks.

While the move to 5G is expected to provide faster connections, lower latency and better integration with the ever-increasing number of connected devices on the market, the graphic breaks down a number of vulnerability points for users and administrators, from threats in the supply chain, deployment, network security and loss of competition and choice.

On the last note, the agency specifically calls out Chinese telecom giant Huawei, warning organizations against making decisions that would result in being "locked into" the company's tech, which U.S. officials have claimed would represent an unmanageable security risk.

***The Election Assistance Commission's latest Election Administration and Voting Survey gave policymakers and state election officials reams of granular data related to voter behavior and election infrastructure used during the 2018 mid-term elections.

However, some of the individual jurisdiction-level data around voting technology may include erroneous information, an EAC official said at a quarterly board of advisors meeting

During a July 22 update to the board, David Kuennen, a senior research program specialist at EAC, said some states may have overcounted or passed along incorrect jurisdiction-level data around the use of paperless direct-recording electronic machines.

"Using the data, you can find that there are 817 local jurisdictions that reported using paperless DREs in any capacity. I think there's a couple in there that I'm pretty sure are [the result of] some data quality issues," Kuennen said. "I won't tell you the states, but there are a couple states that told us they use paperless DREs where we're pretty sure they don't. We're working to fix that, but it's [still] a valuable data point."

***The Commerce Department's telecommunications agency finished testing the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band ahead of commercializing the spectrum.

An official for National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Institute for Telecommunication Sciences said in a July 19 blog post that ITS had released its final test reports to companies that participated in a shared-spectrum test model for the CBRS bandwidth. The model would allow commercial and military users to share the spectrum, which is valued for its ability to provide both deep capacity and wide coverage, according to ITS Director Keith Gremban. The band, he said, will support current 4G LTE wireless services, as well as 5G deployments later on.

Gremban said ITS oversaw comprehensive testing of the Spectrum Access System's ability to manage CBRS devices and protect incumbent federal and commercial operations in the band. SAS will allow sharing in CBRS.

***The deadline for Government Innovation Award nominations is Aug. 2 Submit your picks for individual Rising Stars, Public Sector Innovations and Industry Innovators today!