Data Breaches, Cyberwarfare Are The Top Security Concerns in 2014
With the beginning of a new year, organizations are evaluating the performance of their IT departments in an effort to become more efficient and strengthen weak points in cyber security. While decision-makers are primarily looking to boost productivity in the office, mitigating threats to their databases is also a main goal as cyberattacks continue to cause problems for organizations worldwide.
Is cyberwarfare the biggest threat of all?
For government organizations, one of the greatest security concerns is the danger of cyberwarfare by malicious groups looking to steal or destroy vital information at the federal level. A recent poll from Defense News revealed that nearly half of the country's national security leaders felt that these attacks are the greatest threats to the United States at this time. More than 350 defense leaders responded to the Defense News Leadership Poll, underwritten by United Technologies. While there were some differences between the opinions of Republican and Democrat respondents, both parties agreed that the security of the U.S. is under constant fear of attack.
"The collective result of these kinds of attacks could be a cyber Pearl Harbor, an attack that would cause physical destruction and the loss of life," ex-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a speech over a year ago as quoted by the source. "In fact, it would paralyze and shock the nation and create a new, profound sense of vulnerability."
Private enterprise prioritizes data security
Complete control of company information is a must in today's dangerous cyber landscape. Major data breaches in the past several months have had businesses frantically trying to patch up their security measures to prevent more attacks. CSO recently explored the ways that business leaders are assessing the effectiveness of their current security strategies, emphasizing what data is the most valuable to operations, understanding the nature of relevant cyberthreats and fixing any previously damaged networks within an organization.