NTIA Seeks Input on National 5G Security Strategy

As I noted in an April 6 blog post, President Trump signed into law the Secure 5G and Beyond Act of 2020 on March 23. That Act directs the Administration to develop a 5G security implementation plan within 6 months of its enactment.

The White House initiated that process with the same-day release of the "National Strategy to Secure 5G," a framework document organized around four lines of effort:

• Facilitating the private-sector led rollout of 5G;
• Defining core security principles in response to potential risks;
• Addressing risks to economic and national security interests; and
• Working with like-minded countries to develop and deploy secure and reliable standards and infrastructure.

Late last month, NTIA solicited public input on that implementation plan. Its request for comment, which is organized around the same four lines of effort noted above, presents a number of specific questions. For example:

• With respect to facilitating the domestic rollout out of 5G, how can the U.S. Government further motivate the commercial ecosystem (equipment and chip manufacturers, software developers, cloud providers, system integrators, network providers, etc.) to increase R&D and testing? What specific goals should it prioritize?
• In assessing risks and identifying core security principles, what factors should the U.S. Government consider in evaluating potential security gaps?
• In addressing risks to economic and national security, what opportunities does 5G deployment create for U.S. companies?
• In promoting the responsible global development of 5G, how can the U.S. Government best encourage the domestic private sector to participate in standards development?

Comments are due on or before June 18.