The coronavirus has forced people around the globe to heavily rely on digital tools – government included. From constituent services to remote work, agencies are producing and sharing mass amounts of data each day. This valuable information, the target of many cyberattacks, must be secured – and it’s no easy task. Read on to learn about new tools agencies are using now to protect data.
Americans Concerned by Government Data Handling
With millions of Americans teleworking because of the coronavirus, data security, as well as data privacy and surveillance, are growing concerns. Fear of government and industry tracking via cellphone and cyberattacks via video conferencing is at an all-time high. According to a recent report by Pew Research Center, most Americans are concerned about how government is handling personal data.
Sixty-four percent reported being somewhat or very concerned about government data collection and handling. Should they be? With strings of cyberattacks focused on stealing valuable data from government agencies, leadership today is looking to strengthen cyber systems and policies.
Read on here.
Secure with Detection, Auditing, and Monitoring
According to recent studies, most data breaches are caused by stolen credentials or inside threats. To address these threats, agencies need to secure data at the server level. This requires a defense-in-depth approach that can prevent, detect, and neutralize threats. By employing trust-but-verify scenarios paired with detective controls, agencies can ensure they maintain regulations like GDPR are while also bolstering their security posture.
Along with detection, agencies require solutions that audit and monitor for anomalies. “A good analogy to understand [this auditing and monitoring] concept is to consider the roles of cameras and guards at the front entrance to buildings. Both can see what is going into the building, only one can stop what goes into the building, but neither provides a complete view on what happens inside the building,” according to the Oracle Audit Vault and Database Firewall Technical White Paper.
Read on here.
“Always-on” Security for Agencies
Today’s agencies are focused on digital transformation – but with this digital transformation come new risk factors. New tools, systems, and infrastructure increase the likelihood of a cyberattack, but with the right technology, agencies can focus on mission delivery and ensure data protection. A cyber tool, like Oracle Advanced Security, protects data and ensures compliance with data encryption procedures.
Agencies can manage the risk of data exposure, reduce operational costs, and improve governance with a single point of management. “The security-first design approach led to innovations like isolated network virtualization and pristine physical host deployment, which give customers a higher level of security than first-generation clouds,” says Vipin Samar, Senior Vice President of development for Oracle Database Security. “Simply put, security is not bolted on, whether it’s encryption, access control, auditing – all this is built inside. That’s what gives us scale and performance. We are moving towards ‘always-on’ security, and you can’t turn it off in the cloud. We have to move toward this space of ‘business-on’ by default. There is no ‘off’ switch.”
Read on here.
