NIST staff sees security threat in optional nature of standard-setting body's 5G specifications

Cyber threats to next-generation wireless networks may be exacerbated by the voluntary nature of 5G security specifications being developed by a key standards body, National Institute of Standards and Technology staffers said last week before a NIST advisory panel.

“I think, many of the security features, they are optional features,” said NIST's Jeff Cichonski briefing the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board on Thursday on the inner workings of the Third Generation Partnership Project, or 3GPP, in developing the Technical...