Call to Arms for Securing the U.S. Digital Infrastructure—It’s About Time

By Cathy Wright
Did you hear the big news on Friday? The government officially acknowledged that the nation’s digital infrastructure is under ‘near constant’ attack. President Obama went on record to say the threat from hackers to critical data systems is among “the most serious economic and national security challenge facing the U.S. today.” A heavy statement, given all the other bad news making headlines every day.

How did we get to this vulnerable point? In my opinion it all comes down to investments…or lack there of. Just as the government needs cash to fix decrepit roadways and bridges and hospitals, it also must invest in the securing of the U.S. data infrastructure as well. Until now, less importance has been placed on the latter and I applaud Obama for now taking cyber crime seriously and for his administration’s decision to address this very real problem. It’s about time.

Given my profession I’m a close watcher of technology innovation and can say that today there are countless technologies out there for stopping hackers and cyber threats. However the fact that Obama is raising awareness around cyber security gives everyone—from universities and hospitals, to the enterprise, to the steps of the White House— pause to re-examine and question their current methods. It’s definitely ‘game on’ for all the security vendors out there and will be interesting to watch.
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