Cyber Insecurity: When Contractors Are Weak Link

The time may have come to hold the contractor companies accountable for inadequate safeguards and lack of security measures which will protect critical program information, sensitive information, and even classified information.

But of even greater concern for our community is its continued reliance on current methods and processes for protecting networks, enterprises, and information.  What is needed is a quantum leap to new and innovative approaches that will change the systems, environments, and networks to make them capable of recognizing malware, intrusion attempts, infected software copies, and other common tools of the cyber-attacker's tradecraft. 

With real innovation and a drive from senior leaders to find and test new solutions, rather than permutations of the same old solutions, the government could get ahead of our adversaries and create the time gap necessary to allow for even more innovation and structural shifts that could frustrate adversaries and provide our country with a competitive advantage in the future.

Our economic well-being and our ability to dominate the battle space of tomorrow hinge on this effort. It is imperative for companies to protect their internal networks and systems, to sequester government information more effectively, and to redouble efforts related to insider threats.  If we do not fix this, we could find ourselves overpowered economically and militarily in the future.