Feb 17, 2021
When the Census Bureau announced that the data states use for redistricting would be delayed, many states plans were thrown for a loop.
Between complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, new technology to protect privacy and security and the Trump administration’s shifting deadlines, the release of the redistricting data will delayed until Sept. 30. That data includes the details on race, ethnicity, voting age, housing occupancy status at the census block level – all of which plays into the redistricting decisions that will most immediately impact the 2022 primary elections.
Census now plans to release all states’ data at once, rather than via a staggered delivery, which officials said would ensure delivery of “the high-quality fit-for-use data products the states need for redistricting.”
Security experts understand the desire of entrepreneurs and election officials to use new voting methods to reach voters who may be disenfranchised by in-person or mail-in voting, but the security risk might be too great, they say.
By Stephanie Kanowitz
Feb 11, 2021
A public/private partnership in Tucson, Ariz., is closing the digital divide by not only connecting more than 32,000 of the city’s 212,000 households without reliable internet access, but also powering up Tucson’s smart city strategy.
The city and Insight Enterprises are within weeks of completing Phase I of a municipal wireless broadband solution using the Citizen Broadband Radio Service network, a band of radio-frequency spectrum from 3.5 GHz to 3.7 GHz that the Federal Communications Commission has designated for incumbent, priority and general authorized access. Insight’s Cloud + Data Center Transformation team provides project management and long-term managed services over the single solution that combines technologies from multiple providers.
The Defense Department is working with the General Services Administration to work out reciprocity between the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program and the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program.
Feb 12, 2021
When the sheriff of Oldsmar, Fla., held a press conference to discuss a Feb. 5 hack into the water treatment facility that could have poisoned the city’s water supply, many cybersecurity experts stood up and took notice.
The intruder seemed to have breached the plant’s industrial controls via a remote desktop monitoring application and may have taken advantage other cybersecurity weaknesses, such as lax password security and use of an unsupported operating system. That access was used to change chemical controls to dump lye into the city’s drinking water.
On Feb. 11, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center issued a joint advisory outlining how cyber criminals can gain unauthorized access to systems by exploiting desktop-sharing software and end-of-life operating systems, particularly Windows 7, and making recommendations for defending water an