4 Technology Stories You May Have Missed Last Week

The Most Critical Skills Gap: Cybersecurity

Since Target’s hack back in 2013, cybersecurity has been top of mind for organizations, especially those with sensitive information. However, the talent pool of those who are skilled in intrusion detection, secure software development and attack mitigation is not growing at the same rate as the demand. Many reasons contribute to this disconnect, including a lack of training in higher education and a 53% increase in need.

Where Does your Agency Stand on the Cyber Threat Hunting Maturity Model?

Many organizations are quickly discovering that cyber threat hunting is the next step in the evolution of the modern Security Operations Center (SOC).

But what is “hunting"?

Sqrrl, a leader in big data analytics and cybersecurity, defines hunting as “the process of proactively and iteratively searching through networks to detect and isolate advanced threats that evade existing security solutions.”

No More F.U.D. (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) about Cyber Threats

I’m fed up. Better yet, I’m “F.U.D.-ed” up.  In every cybersecurity conference, in every threat report, in every blog and every bit of cybersecurity marketing literature I see one tiresome theme:  “The bad guys are after us!  It’s getting worse every day!  How will we fix it?  Can we fix it?  There’s no magic bullet! The cyber sky is falling, run for your cyber life!”  In other words, an unrelenting stream of– Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.

Fed IT Security Hardens, but User Authentication Remains Weak

On February 27, FISMA presented its annual report to Congress. The report (compiled by the OMB) provides metrics on federal cybersecurity incidents, efforts to mitigate them, and progress in implementing cybersecurity policies and programs.

The good news is that there is progress to report, with nearly 70,000 information security issues reported in FY’ 2014, up 15% over the previous year – there is still work to be done.