Symantec’s Ken Durbin: Formjacking, Supply Chain Among Security Concerns in Federal Gov’t

Ken Durbin, senior strategist of global government affairs and cybersecurity at Symantec, wrote in a Fifth Domain opinion piece published Friday about several security threats that federal agencies should be aware of.

He said one of the threats included in Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report is formjacking, a technique used by cyber actors to introduce malicious code into websites of retailers to steal a customer’s payment card details.

“Formjacking is a growing threat in the federal government where agencies increasingly turn to online buying,” Durbin noted. “Federal spending online is expected to grow as GSA prepares to roll out e-commerce portals, as directed in last year’s National Defense Authorization Act.”

Other security trends he discussed include threats associated with cloud, supply chain, election security and mobile devices.

Symantec found that the use of malware rose 25 percent and the highest number of email-based attacks, including malicious attachments, occurred in the U.S.

“Federal agencies still require an integrated approach to cyber operations, one that considers all aspects of a network – whether it’s the roaming endpoint, on-premise infrastructure, or the cloud,” he added.