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ReadersSpeak

Heads up on cybersecurity

he following is excerpted from insights
Jeffrey J. Engle, chairman and president at
Conquest Cyber, https://conquestcyber.com,
T sent to emphasize the critical need to secure
our infrastructure.
"If you’re waiting for a cybersecurity 9/11 or a
ransomware Pearl Harbor to punch us in the gut,
wake up. The equivalent has already happened. More
than one, in fact. Maybe SolarWinds and Colonial
Pipeline didn’t have the devastating visuals of those
other American tragedies. But they exposed deep
vulnerabilities in how we run our world and live our
lives. We’ve allowed foes to infiltrate our infrastructure
and stay there, undetected. And our response? We issue
fines.

"However, if we give the problem our full attention and
the right level of risk management, we can mitigate the
worst impacts—or stop attacks altogether. So, where do
we start?

"First, this requires a World War II-level of mobilization:
either you’re in the fight, or you support the fight.
Second, our critical assets like government agencies,
the power grid, hospitals, banks, the defense industrial
base, and other infrastructure and industries need to
ask themselves: What’s on your network? What assets
are supposed to be connected? Who’s on your network?
Is everyone working remotely supposed to be there?
What data are you trying to protect? These are the most
basic elements of cyber hygiene.

"Third, we need to shift people’s mindset to solve
problems with a risk-based approach. Too many
decision-makers stick to the way they’ve always done it.
Too many institutions choose the probability of a fine
over the cost of change, even though it’s much more
costly to recover from an incident than prevent one.

"Achieving constant cybersecurity effectiveness, not
just compliance, is eminently doable. You must pick up
new habits and ditch old ones. We need to start now,
because the attacks won’t stop. Let’s not wait to take
action until something worse happens."
How vulnerable are you?

How vulnerable is the U.S. infrastructure right now?
What are you doing in your sphere to secure networks
and data? What should others be doing? Let us know at
greensheet@greensheet.com.

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