The past decade has exponentially increased the world's radar on cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities. These years have shifted society into a primarily digital where business, social, and financial matters are typically handled through some form of an online platform. In the past two years alone, due to the pandemic, the few areas of life that remained physical are primarily digital now as well. A report by Purplesec for 2021 claimed that cybercrime has increased 600% since the start of the pandemic. While insurance agencies and those prone to threats have had a keen awareness of the rising risk, the government is also stepping up and claiming some responsibility in providing protection to the general public.
Steve Turner, a risk analyst at Forrester, noted that “Government-led cybersecurity initiatives are critical to addressing cybersecurity issues such as destructive attacks, massive data breaches, poor security posture, and attacks on critical infrastructure. In 2021, Governments around the globe declared dedication to help mitigate the risk of cyber threats to the public and implemented new initiatives to uphold that promise.
On May 12th, 2021 the President of the United States issued a briefing on the new Executive Order to Improve the Nation's Cybersecurity Plan. The order contained 10 highly detailed sections, each describing different initiatives the government intends to achieve within the next year. Some of the most notable include:
The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certificated, issued in January of 2021, is a training and assessment certification program run by the Department of Defense. The aim of the certification is to accurately assess the structure and effectiveness of an organization's cybersecurity plan. The certification aims to standardize the measures organizations take in order to promote and verify solid security. Users and partners of organizations will have the ability to review cyber rankings and have a good understanding of how secure their system is. This Maturity Model Certification is an exciting concept that has the potential to expand and inspire governments around the world.
The Senate of the United States has proposed a Cybersecurity Act that will develop a Cyber Literacy Campaign in order to, “increase the knowledge and awareness of the American people of best practices to reduce cybersecurity risks.” This act is proposed to be available in multiple languages and will cover the basics of how to spot a cyber hacker, identify a secure website, and recognize phishing schemes. The act is intended to teach Americans how to prevent a cyber event through the use of complex passwords, two-factor authentication, encryption, and so on. This Literacy Act will be the first of its kind for the American people.
The Department of Homeland Security partnered with the Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology and released a new cryptography roadmap to lead organizations in protecting their data and systems and to reduce risks related to the advancement of quantum computing technology. The algorithms that support encryption today are considered to be safe since more complex post-quantum cryptography is expensive and rather inaccessible. However, this cryptography roadmap is intended to develop algorithms that are able to reduce the risks associated with quantum computing.
The government is aware that our data is going to be at a higher risk in the near future when quantum computers are a main technological resource. Instead of waiting for issues to arise in the future when we can no longer secure our data against smarter computers, the government is getting ahead of the curve now and preparing using this Quantum Cryptography Roadmap.
While Americans are becoming more and more aware of the risks associated with our digital world, the Government is also stepping up and taking responsibility for spreading knowledge, awareness, and easily accessed protection. Taking your data digital is no longer a personal choice, it’s unavoidable. In business and personal endeavors, we risk our important information on a daily basis just to participate in normal, necessary tasks. The need for a national and global protection plan is more important than ever before. These are just a few of the initiatives the U.S Government is taking in order to maintain cyber security throughout the nation, and they are likely going to continue expanding as the cyber world does.
These measures are great efforts toward fighting cybercrime, but incidents still happen. The best way to protect your data and assets is to have a solid cyber security plan that can provide an additional level of safety in the event you do experience a cyber event. ECBM can work with you to find a cyber insurance plan that covers your specific needs. For more information on our cyber security plans, contact one of our agents today.