Cybersecurity considerations 2024: Government and public sector

As featured on BusinessMirror: Cybersecurity considerations 2024: Government and public sector

In every industry, cybersecurity stands as a paramount concern for leaders. Yet, for government and public sector organizations, the game of digital defense takes on a whole new level of intensity. The reason? The sheer volume and sensitivity of the data they manage, which can amplify the potential fallout from any breach. These agencies are the custodians of a vast array of personal and critical data, spanning from citizen welfare to public safety and national security. A misstep in cybersecurity could spell disaster, jeopardizing not just data, but the very health, safety and security of the citizens they serve.

This article delves into the pivotal cybersecurity considerations for the government and public sector. It offers valuable perspectives on critical focus areas and provides actionable strategies for leaders and their security teams to fortify resilience, drive innovation, and uphold trust in an ever-changing environment.

For the public sector, enhanced security through automation is less a choice and more an imperative for multiple reasons. Firstly, the public sector is not immune to the global skills shortage in cybersecurity. It often has to compete with the private sector to retain talent with the required knowledge and expertise. The public sector tends to lose talent to the private sector, creating a vacuum of knowledge and expertise.

Secondly, in many countries, the public sector is constantly under pressure for being too big. By investing in security automation, public sector organizations can help improve operational efficiency, reduce manual errors and optimize resource utilization, ultimately enhancing overall productivity and effectiveness. Automated processes play a key role in helping to ensure ongoing compliance, as they can be updated to reflect new regulations more swiftly and consistently than manual processes.

Lastly, public sector organizations are increasingly expanding their digital presence and adopting new technologies. This can bring enhanced efficiency but also greater complexity. As agencies scale their security operations more effectively, they should be able to adapt to evolving threats and technologies without significantly increasing costs.

With the growing range of threats, prioritizing what cybersecurity teams should focus on is key. Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) should filter the noise to allocate resources to the most vulnerable areas. Cybersecurity leaders can start by defining the vision and strategy for automation in the context of larger organizational goals. The next steps would be to determine execution through build versus buy decisions and ensure skills for continuous implementation.

Many organizations continue to rely on manual or paper/plastic identity to process transactions, which can be inconvenient, inefficient and full of security risks. When implemented correctly, digital identity can help alleviate these concerns, providing users with a secure and privacy-respecting experience that enables them to conduct online transactions anywhere at any time. This not only helps save time and effort for the system users but also streamlines the process for the institution.

Individual ownership of identity lies at the heart of protecting sensitive information, ensuring secure access to critical services and upholding the rights and trust of account holders. Digital identity ecosystems rely on authoritative identity data to provide individuals with rights and entitlements, from healthcare and social services to education and voting.

Many organizations remain in the early stages of adapting their systems and processes to keep individual identity front and center. Integrating digital identity into broader cybersecurity and resilience strategies is not just a technological imperative, but a crucial step toward more inclusive, efficient and secure government and public services. 

Some government bodies are already leading the way on identity management by rolling out official personal digital wallets and defining minimum requirements for identity service providers. One of the keys is to maintain a flexible approach that accommodates emerging technologies and new regulations. 

Cyberattacks and security incidents can disrupt critical government and public services, leading to significant economic, social and political consequences. As government agencies collect, store and manage vast amounts of sensitive information, including citizen records, financial data and national security intelligence, cybersecurity is integral to public safety and national security.

Clearly, there are inherent risks that come with today’s digitally connected landscape. Organizations should acknowledge that many cyber incidents are inevitable and simply cannot be prevented. As such, commensurate investment across the lifecycle (i.e. prevention, detection, response and recovery) is required to help ensure true resilience in the event of a breach, so the organization can quickly contain and minimize operational disruption.

Among government and public sector agencies, the integration of cybersecurity and resilience into organizational strategy remains a work in progress, with varying degrees of preparedness across different entities. This is largely because the sector’s approach to cybersecurity tends to be more reactive than proactive, often focusing on immediate threat mitigation rather than long-term resilience planning. This is further compounded by resource constraints. With adequate resilience, government agencies can help minimize disruption and ensure operational continuity.

For resilience, leaders are encouraged to develop a roadmap for how organizations can or should respond in the event of an attack next week, next month or next year. With periodic reviews, plans and frameworks can remain aligned with the evolving threat landscape.

In addition to assessing your cybersecurity program and helping to ensure it aligns with your business priorities, KPMG professionals can help government and public sector clients develop advanced digital solutions, advise on the implementation and monitoring of ongoing risks, and help design appropriate responses to cyber incidents. With the well-being and safety of citizens potentially at stake, leaders should act now to integrate operational resilience and security into core business functions. Proactive behaviors, the right cultural mindset and the safe adoption of digital tools are key in helping to ensure public safety and national security.