Technically Speaking

This month, Symantec caught up with Don Maclean, Chief Cyber Security Technologist, DLT, to get his thoughts on today’s top cyber challenges. You can hear more from Don at the Symantec Government Symposium on Oct. 30, as he shares his perspective on the “Aligning Cyber Priorities and Modernization Policies” panel.

Cloud adoption among government agencies is reaching an inflection point. Driven by the cloud’s cost-efficiencies and ability to offer an improved citizen experience, faster delivery of mission capabilities, agile development, and scale applications up and down, much of the initial reticence about cloud models is dissipating.

To improve the federal government’s cybersecurity posture, the Department of Homeland Security created the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program.  On September 6, the House of Representatives voted to codify CDM, and barely two weeks later, the White House’s National Cyber Strategy assigned to DHS still more authority over cybersecurity in the United States.  What’s more, government contractors are winning 9- and 10-figure CDM contracts, so it’s clear that CDM’s time has come.

Fear of digital sabotage of the mid-term elections has become the biggest cybersecurity talking point of 2018. With the latest election security bill stalled in Congress and suspicions that Russia (and possibly others) are still seeking to sow divisions among the U.S. electorate, voters and political organizations are right to be worried.

2018 marks the 15th year of the National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a government/industry effort – observed every October – that works to ensure every American has the resources they need to “be safer and more secure online” and educating everyone about the roles they play in helping to safeguard the internet.

With Federal Fiscal Year End rapidly approaching, government buyers can breathe a sigh of relief that the spending frenzy is almost over. But, you’re probably reading stories and anecdotes in the media about examples of wasteful spending that occurred during the last few weeks of the fiscal year as agencies rushed to spend their “use it or lose it” dollars.