Government/Public Sector Cyber Challenges
The cybersecurity challenges faced by the government are vast—and varied. Below are just a few of the factors contributing to government’s heightened cyber risk:
Complex Infrastructures: IT across the public sector mimics the government itself: complex and unwieldy. This makes protecting agencies even more difficult. It can feel impossible for IT and cyber teams to know how many assets they need to keep track of, much less how to protect them.
Talent Shortage: Due to the worldwide cybersecurity talent shortage, nearly half a million cyber positions are unfilled. Government agencies are in direct competition with private sector firms offering attractive compensation packages. This can lead to increased outsourcing, ultimately compounding the supply chain and third-party vendor issue.
Third-Party Vendors/Supply Chain: Government agencies rely heavily on contractors and third-party vendors, adding additional threat vectors to the government’s complex cyber landscape.
Vast missions: For many public sector entities, cybersecurity objectives go beyond simply ensuring your organization is protected. They need to be able to monitor the cybersecurity postures and attack surfaces of critical infrastructure sectors, support victim notifications and incident response, hunt threats, and more.