Jane Edwards
A new SolarWinds report shows that 75 percent of government information technology leaders say federal agencies have become more proactive than they were five years ago when it comes to IT security.
SolarWinds said Tuesday it commissioned research firm Market Connections to poll 200 IT security professionals from federal civilian and defense agencies between August and September for its annual Federal Cybersecurity Survey.
The survey found that 60 percent of respondents said they believe compliance has helped their organizations build up their cyber capabilities.
At least 50 percent of IT leaders said they consider government mandates and other regulations a challenge to risk management efforts, while 55 percent said they feel the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cybersecurity Framework has helped advance dialogue on risk management.
The report also found that 61 percent of agencies with sophisticated IT controls are more likely to benefit from IT modernization programs and experience a decline in cyber threats and faster detection of such threats.
“An important message in this year’s report is that government agencies need to develop strong IT controls,†said Joe Kim, executive vice president of engineering and global chief technology officer at SolarWinds.
Majority of respondents said they believe network modernization and cloud migration efforts have led to a rise in IT security challenges, while 54 percent of respondents said untrained insiders pose security risks to agencies.
