US intelligence agencies issue paper on 5G risks and vulnerabilities

The US National Security Agency (NSA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), and the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) jointly published an analysis paper that identifies and assesses risks and vulnerabilities introduced by 5G networks. The paper, titled Potential Threat Vectors to 5G Infrastructure, aims to inform national 5G stakeholders of these issues to identify comprehensive solutions. 

The paper states that 5G networks will be an attractive target for criminals and foregin adversaries to expose and exploit valuable information and intelligence due to the developments that the 5G technology promises to bring, including new innovation, new markets, and global economic growth. The National Strategy to Secure 5G, developed by the US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) establishes four lines of effort, one of which is to assess the cybersecurity risks to and identifying coresecurity principles of 5G capabilities and infrastructure. Aligned with this line of effort, the Enduring Security Framework (ESF) 5G Threat Model Working Panel was established. The  panel reviewed existing bodies of work to identify and produce an aggregated list of known and potential threats to the 5G networks, and assessed risks to 5G core technologies.