Federal Government

The latest IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence research recently revealed a global spike in government data breaches.

The risks presented by the endpoint are a growing concern in government data security. This past month, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released draft publications on how to securely support the growing use of mobile devices and telework at federal agencies, following research that indicates the problem of gaining visibility into the endpoint.

Since the first release in 2014 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Framework for Improving Crtical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, known simply as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, there has been what could be considered a rapid adoption of the framework. Within the federal government, 82% of agencies are either fully or partially adopting the NIST framework, perhaps more telling is that 53% of organizations outside the federal government...

Data security at government agencies is a growing concern. The GAO has been releasing studies indicating persistent weaknesses in security programs in all 24 federal agencies as well as a growing rate of security incidents. Despite only accounting for 8.4% of data breaches in 2015, there is no question that the government sector faces some of the most stringent public scrutiny when it comes to data security.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report re-iterating the need for stronger data protections at Federal agencies. The report, “Federal Agencies Need to Better Protect Sensitive Data,” shows that data security incidents continue to rise, up to 67,168 incidents reported in 2014. The GAO has attributed this rise in the number of incidents to a number of deficiencies at federal agencies that put data and systems at...