Why Government Can’t Afford Not to Adopt Integrated Cyber Defense

Every state and local government wants to ensure their organization, systems, data and constituents are protected as best as possible from cyber threats, but the roadblocks standing in the way vary from government to government.

A recent Center for Digital Government survey asked state and local technology leaders to address their biggest cyber security challenges. The answers, unsurprisingly, covered a wide-range of topic areas. Sixty percent of respondents named budget constraints as a major challenge, easily topping the list, but there were several other concerns that respondents named as significant hurdles, including:

• Lack of qualified staff: 38 percent
• Outdated infrastructure: 34 percent
• Lack of an integrated strategy: 29 percent
• Lack of support: 27 percent
• An inadequate security framework: 24 percent

With ransomware and other cyber attacks on the rise in state agencies, there is a strong business case to be made that investing in an integrated cyber defense architecture can not only reduce the need for expensive remediation tactics after the fact, but, more importantly, help prevent future breaches.

This has become especially true in recent years. Cloud computing and mobile devices have greatly improved government efficiency, but these technologies have expanded the network agencies must now protect. Agencies can no longer secure a hardened perimeter but must focus on the data layer to ensure information is secured at every stage of its lifecycle. To do this, government organizations need to alter their approach to security.

The Value of an Integrated Cyber Defense Platform

There has been a trend in government agencies at all levels to piece together cyber security systems, and the cloud has only added to this complexity. Organizations purchase a specific cyber security tool to fix a specific problem without considering how it works with other aspects of the enterprise. As a result, these systems lack organization and visibility, increasing an agency’s chance of a breach, and resulting in a number of the issues called out in the Center for Digital Government survey.The growth of the network has exacerbated this problem. Government agencies must either adapt at how they secure their network, or risk having a security architecture that’s not apt for today’s environment.

These patchwork systems can also be incredibly expensive to maintain. They are not built with the ability to handle new challenges or adapt to the changing threat landscape. When a new threat emerges, it is common to simply add another component.

While this might solve an immediate issue, a more comprehensive integrated cyber security approach has been of greater success to organizations from both the public and private sectors. An integrated cyber defense platform unifies security point solutions with the goal of building a comprehensive security posture. This integration improves how a government organization manages access to its information and applications, as well as protects against breaches and outside disruption.

An integrated cyber defense platform offers four key benefits:

• Stronger protection when the security solution is integrated across endpoints, web and business applications, and the network
• Improved efficiencies in both security spending and operations
• Ability to correlate threat events through aggregated intelligence
• A more comprehensive overview of an organization’s risk management program

Acting as an end-to-end approach that focuses on data protection, this platform is built with pieces constructed to specifically work with one another. In practice, this means better visibility and a system that’s less expensive to maintain than older legacy models, something that is important to state and local government technology leaders.

If you found this information useful, you may also enjoy:

• A Roadmap to Integrated Cyber Defense in Government
• Symantec: Integrated Cyber Defense