The Sector That’s Lagging Behind in Cyber Security

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

The cyber security sphere has become first priority in various organizations, and many resources have been invested in it. But what is the situation at the government systems?

A new study portrays a grim picture of the overall cyber security of the U.S. government agencies. The annual report – U.S. State and Federal Government Cybersecurity – recently released by SecurityScorecard evaluates that the government sector is lagging compared to almost every other industry.

However, there are some standout performers that have demonstrated superior cybersecurity capabilities.

According to homelandsecuritynewswire.com, the report found that US government organizations were ranked third from last (16th) in overall cybersecurity, even when compared to heavily-regulated industries like transportation, finance, energy, and healthcare.

Government organizations fell significantly short in Network Security (13th), Application Security (11th), Patching Cadence (16th), Endpoint Security (17th), IP Reputation (16th), and more.

Other findings suggest that government organizations performed above the cross-industry average in three categories: DNS Health (2nd), Social Engineering (3rd), and Cubit Score (2nd).

“Since our last report in 2016, U.S. state and federal government cybersecurity issues have gained national attention,” said Sam Kassoumeh, COO and co-founder at SecurityScorecard. “On an almost daily basis, the institutions that underpin the nation’s election system, military, finances, emergency response, transportation, and many more, are under constant attack from nation-states, criminal organizations, and hacktivists.” He added that “government agencies provide mission-critical services that, until they are compromised, most people take for granted. This report is designed to educate elected officials, agency leadership, as well as government security professionals about the state of security in the government sector.”

The report is based on the analysis of more than 500 federal, state, and local government agencies in the United States, compared to 17 other expansive industries.