Cyber-security has quickly become a focus for the incoming administration of
President-elect Barack Obama. But just how do Americans feel about the
cyber-threat landscape?
MeriTalk, an online
community for discussions of politics and IT, has a few answers. In
conjunction with the 2009 International
Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas, MeriTalk released a survey of 494 Americans and
20 government CISOs (chief information security officers) about their attitudes
toward security.
“The good news is that Americans are very concerned about identity theft and
want to protect themselves,” said Stephen W.T. O’Keeffe, founder of MeriTalk.
“But there’s more bad news—the government has sunk billions on cyber-security,
yet is not reaching the people—not one of the nearly 500 Americans MeriTalk
surveyed is signed up to the National Cyber Alert System.”
According to the study, both the public and CISOs agree cyber-threats are
increasing, 59 percent and 87 percent, respectively. About 87 percent of CISOs
reported an increase in cyber-related incidents in the last year.
The CISOs surveyed said the incoming administration should work to improve
communication with the public on cyber-issues, with nearly 87 percent calling
for improved alerts and security initiatives. Roughly 73 percent called for
improved public education.
Among the government CISOs, the state of IT security seems dire. They rated
the current threat level at 8 on a scale of 10 and listed state-sponsored
cyber-warfare programs as their biggest concern. Nearly 29 percent of
CISOs assert the biggest cyber-security threat to the United
States in the next four years will come from
uniformed soldiers, with Chinese and Russian forces believed to present the
greatest threat.
Politically driven hacker activity is nothing new to the scene, as seen
through recent reports of attacks tied to the conflict between Israel
and Hamas, as well as the fighting last year between Russia
and Georgia.
In the IT
security industry, analysts and vendors have called for the incoming
president and the law enforcement community to devote more resources to
fighting cyber-crime and improve international cooperation. Obama has already
pledged to make cyber-security a top priority, and his administration has plans
to name a national chief technology officer.
“The new administration needs to prioritize and communicate—and act
quickly,” O’Keeffe said. “Shoring up the nation’s critical infrastructure
protection should be Job No. 1.”
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