The public sector operates in an environment driven by data. From education and healthcare to utilities and defence, data is now as integral to the success of public services as the teams and physical infrastructures through which they are deployed. This makes them key targets for cybercriminals looking to steal personal information, research data and intellectual property. Moreover, they are on a high target for DDoS public sector attacks.
Your organisation needs full control over the sharing of information, securing your network and gaining a deeper insight into malware-driven attacks- this is where we can help. Smarttech247’s elite security professionals provide the intelligence needed to take industry-leading tools and make them robust, relevant and right-sized for your organisation to combat public sector attacks.
Top 5 cybersecurity threats faced by public sector companies in 2021
Ransomware
Ransomware is one of the most intractable and common threats facing the public sector. Incidents of ransomware attacks are continuing to rise. Ransom demands are increasing exponentially. We have seen ransom demands of more than $40 million already this year.
Intellectual Property Theft
A major threat to the public sector in 2021 is Intellectual Property theft. The move toward increased digitisation the storing of more valuable data online it makes the sector a more attractive target. Public sector organisations often lack visibility, data control, access auditing and compliance reporting throughout their networks and this needs to be tackled.
Phishing
Phishing continues to dominate, particularly as remote working continues. As this trend continues so too does your lack of visibility over your employees. This provides more opportunities and points of entry for cybercriminals to access systems, data and information.
Insider Threat
Whether accidental or malicious, untrained employees are a challenge faced by all public sector agencies. Damage from insider sources can be hard to detect because these threats encompass a wide range of behaviours and motives. It could be an employee attempting to disrupt operations, looking to earn extra cash by selling data, or a well-intentioned employee who simply sidesteps a company policy to save time. Insider threats bring with them unique security challenges. These challenges stem from the fact that these threats are created by insiders in plain sight and as a result, are extremely difficult to detect.
Cyber espionage and state-sponsored
attacks
Government agencies in particular are prime targets for nation state-sponsored hackers as they own crucial intellectual property on pubilc schemes representing years of research & millions in investment. Cyber espionage has been recognised as another major motivation for state-sponsored hackers attempting to gain technological advantage for their countries’ economies, hence the current debate surrounding the involvement of Chinese telecoms manufacturer Huawei in the rollout of the West’s new 5G mobile communications networks.
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