5 cyber security issues that should keep you awake at night

When it comes to ranking the top security threats the United States is facing, cybercrime comes out in the No. 1 spot — ahead of terrorism and stockpiled nuclear arms. That’s according to a report by the U.S. Director of National Intelligence. And, as a nation, it’s costing us $100 billion each year, impacting more than 1.5 million victims daily.

It is among the reasons that the U.S. Senate recently approved a bill that would lead to the adoption of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), which is designed to encourage businesses and government agencies to share information about cyberattacks.

Whether this is progress has been disputed, as the CISA has its share of supporters and opponents. Yet, there seems to be consensus among experts that organizations, in general, are not moving at a pace that will keep them ahead of hackers.

According to the 2014 U.S. State of Cybercrime Survey, most organizations do not “adequately address employee and insider vulnerabilities,” including the security practices of their suppliers. The survey included responses from more than 500 business executives. Nearly 70 percent of business executives also said they were worried that cyber threats would impact their companies’ growth, according to the PwC 17^th Annual Global CEO Survey.

As you make plans for the upcoming year, keep cyber security issues at the forefront of your strategies and processes, according to Carnegie Mellon University, CSO magazine and the U.S. Secret Service, the sponsors of the survey. Here are 5 you should address:

1. Allowing contractors and third parties to bypass security processes.
2. Moving too slowly to develop a mobile security plan.
3. Failing to regularly assess cyber threats.
4. Not developing strong security measures that could minimize the threat of attacks internally (among employees).
5. Inadequately training employees on good cybersecurity processes.

With hackers aggressively attacking businesses, it’s important to be aggressive in heading off their threats, said FBI Director James B. Comey. In an interview with CBS News, he compared the situation to an unbalanced soccer competition. “… the bad guys are moving at World Cup speed. So we have to get better.”

Here at Lifeline Data Centers, we’re staying on top of the latest technology and processes to protect our clients against cyber threats. Not only that, the experts at our colocation facility stay on top of compliance requirements for various industries. Contact us to learn more.

Other resources:

• Infographic: The 22 Data Center Compliance Acronyms You Need to Know
• White Paper: Why Data Center Compartmentalization is Important
• Lifeline One Sheet: What You Need to Know About Lifeline Data Centers

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.