Optimal employment of cyber security in governments

Technology has brought a revolution in the way we store, access and view information. Digital innovation in modern technology offers us virtually unlimited storage space. In the age of information warfare, this is both a necessity and a liability for large organisations and institutions. Banks, home security services and network operators that store huge volumes of private data are all regular targets of malicious elements looking to obtain and exploit sensitive information. However, government organisations face the biggest threats.

The governing process has been digitised, much like everything else in the twenty-first century. Government records are now stored and secured in digital copies. It gives a sense of security to the caretakers of the records, the government officials and the general public that the confidential information is guarded in something more robust and more fool-proof than physical copies. However, as the security measures become stronger, so do the threats to them. 

So how do these cyber attackers bypass online defences? Malicious software or “malware” is the most common way. It can travel by way of email attachments or legitimate software downloads and corrupts the computer data. Different kinds of malware include viruses, Trojans, ransomware, dridex, etc. Some other methods are SQL injections, denial-of-service attacks and phishing. All use different methods to achieve different purposes.

Importance and use 

of cyber security in governments

Every year, there is an increase in the number of cyber security breaches around the world. According to Risk Based Security, a US-based agency measuring cyber security risks in private organisations, around 7.9 billion records were breached from January to September in 2019. What is more worrying is that these statistics have doubled as compared to the previous year for the same period. 

Governments have taken new cyber security initiatives which include enacting new laws and protocols to combat the rising threats. As these threats continue to assume new shapes and degrees, it is only natural that the precautionary measures need to evolve too. Not surprisingly, more technically and economically advanced countries like the United States, China and Russia are global leaders in employing the strictest cyber security measures. 

Most cybercriminals that attack corporate organisations are looking to obtain personal and financial data of customers. However, the primary threat to government institutions is national security. Governments need to ensure the strongest and latest cyber security needs to be in place to ensure national security.

The American government is the top employer of cyber security professionals in the country with one of the largest and most sophisticated teams in place. The major departments that use the skills of these highly-trained professionals are the Department of Defense, Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Government Accountability Office and the National Security Agency. These departments have grown extensively in size and strength since the 9/11 tragedy. Despite these stringent measures, American government and state departments face 53 per cent of all ransomware attacks worldwide, according to Bleeping Computers reports.

“Cyber terrorism” is another term coined in response to the growing threats in cyberspace led by political ambitions. Attacks in international warfare are becoming increasingly digital in nature and are foreseen to continue to be in the future. This is why governments and private organisations all over the world are funding research to make defensive mechanisms against them as efficient and impenetrable as possible. 

Public welfare and security is the primary responsibility of every government. This is why most governments have issued their own guidebooks to help companies and organisations and indeed, even individuals protect their digital property against cyber infringements. The major areas of concern while developing cyber security procedures is to reduce the overall response time and to do it in the way most cost and labour effective way possible. 

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is a US-based institute that has designed a new cyber security system. It proposes constant monitoring of all digital devices in real-time. The National Cyber Security Centre in the United Kingdom has also released a guideline by the name of "10 steps to cyber security" to help organisations protect themselves against attacks in the cyber environment. The Australian Cyber Security Centre further reiterates the importance of constant vigilance and immediate reports in case of a violation.

However, not all cyber security measures employed by the government are defensive.  North Korea and China are notorious for using cyberattacks to extract sensitive information from international organisations and political opponents. Last year, the United Nations Security Council, the US Microsoft, and India all detected phishing campaigns by North Korean hackers to secrets, identities, cryptocurrencies and other sensitive information.

Governments around the world ensure optimal cyber security measures in different ways. The cyberspace is still a novel phenomenon and we are still discovering and getting used to new forms of opportunities and threats it holds. As the world becomes digitised every day, the importance of cyber security and the need for its optimal utilisation increase too.

Ramzi Rihani is a digital marketing expert. [email protected]