On Thursday, December 9th, Axios Future correspondent Bryan Walsh explored the future of data security in a hybrid world and considered how to create a safer online ecosystem, featuring Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) and former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director Christopher Krebs.
Rep. Ted Lieu examined the weak links in government cybersecurity strategies, the presence of bipartisan agreement for stronger cybersecurity defense measures, and how to balance the benefits and threats posed by internet-connected smart devices in the home.
- On increased government awareness of cybersecurity threats: “It’s pretty clear to me that we’re still way behind in terms of cybersecurity. I think the federal government is now much more aware of these threats. I’m pleased the Biden administration is taking it more seriously.”
- On vulnerability disclosure requirements for federal vendors: “Something I understand about the federal government is we don’t really make stuff, we have private contractors make things. So when you have all these private contractors in the supply chain and when it comes to software and even hardware, if you don’t have vulnerability disclosures, those are weak links and people can go through these weak links and then attack the federal government systems.”
Christopher Krebs outlined how the pandemic’s accelerated digitization changed the nature of cybersecurity threats, the areas most vulnerable to a destructive cyberattack by an adversary, and how businesses should respond if they are faced with a ransomware attack.
- On protecting critical infrastructure from disruptive cyberattacks: “That’s where the partnerships are important to ensure that the government is providing the appropriate support and guidance to those critical infrastructures, and at the same time evaluating where there may be some market failures and looking for opportunities for more regulatory steps. We’ve seen that with pipelines and railways and some of the other modalities of transportation.”
- On how companies can improve their cybersecurity defense strategy: “I think what every organization needs to be doing right now, if they’ve had a prior ransomware event or not, is really think through what their strategy is...and look at what they can do right now. Multi-factor authentication, really hardcore identity management, segmentation across networks, backup recovery, make sure you have an incident response plan in place.”
Axios SVP of Product & Technology Melanie Colton hosted a View from the Top segment with ForgeRock CEO Fran Rosch, who conveyed how the increasing number of cyberattacks impacts companies and their consumers who largely operate online.
- “Security continues to be a huge problem for companies. Fundamentally, we just think the internet is broken in a lot of ways from a security perspective. The usernames and passwords have now been around for over 60 years as the way that we identify and authenticate ourselves. It’s clearly broken as so many customers, so many consumers, use the same username and password as simple as possible across all their applications.”
Thank you ForgeRock for sponsoring this event.