The Commonwealth of Texas has earned the dubious honor of being the latest state or local government hit by a successful ransomware attack. The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) confirmed on Aug. 16 that at least 23 local government entities were hit by a “coordinated” ransomware attack. DIR said it will lead the cybersecurity response to the attack.

Despite a downtick in number of states using paperless voting equipment since 2016, eight states are still expected to use paperless machines in the 2020 election, according to an Aug. 13 Brennan Center for Justice report.

The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) released its new Roadmap for the future of FirstNet today, a nationwide broadband network dedicated to public safety.

The Federal government is looking forward to implementing 5G wireless services as they become available, but building security into 5G services from the beginning will be key to a successful implementation, said officials from the Department of Defense (DoD), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the General Services Administration (GSA).