Published on 01/04/2017 | Technology
Cyberattacks threaten every type of organisation and enterprises are doing everything they can as far as defence is concerned. However, executives tend to view physical and cyber security as 2 separate matters, forgetting that they normally go hand-in-hand.
An article by Entrust writes that there should be no gap between the two, since cyber and physical security are "very much connected", and a top-tier cybersecurity plan will encompass physical protection. Not only do physical security help to inform cybersecurity, physical security compromises threaten cybersecurity too.
According to The Global Cybersecurity Index, published by ABI Research and ITU, The United States and Canada tie for first place in cybersecurity, and Australia ranks a close second. The report ranks countries based off of their commitment to increasing cybersecurity defenses and their preparation efforts, and not by the success of safeguards or levels of risk to each country.
USA
Government sectors and officials haven’t taken cybersecurity planning and efforts lightly, and according to Obama’s Cybersecurity National Action Plan, the President asked for a 1/3 increase in his fiscal 2017 budget proposal. The new budget will increase from $14 billion to $19 billion, and use the extra $5billion to cover government cybersecurity staffing, technology modernization and more.
The National Action Plan is divided into four tiers, which will focus on establishing a committee of nongovernment cybersecurity experts, modernizing and adding extra staff to the current government IT section, and teaming up with tech and financial firms like Google and Visa to establish multi-factor authentication as an extra layer of protection for consumers. The final building block of the plan is increasing the cybersecurity budget by 35 percent to $19 billion in order to carry out all parts of the action plan.
Canada
Tied with the U.S. for the most cyber-prepared country, Canada has also devoted a hefty sum for their cybersecurity plan.
A total of $58 million is set aside to cover the next five years and protect the Government of Canada’s indispensable cybersystems and infrastructures against cyber-attacks. Funding will be used to cover the development and distribution of advanced cybersecurity tools, security information, and staffing cybersecurity professionals. Cybersecurity investment has increased a total of 82 percent over the year, but according to a PWC report, only 5 percent of funding is devoted to overall IT.
Canada’s Cyber Security Strategy is focusing on three objectives: securing government systems, securing vital cybersystems outside the government, and helping Canadians to be secure online.
Australia
Coming in third place, Australia Parliament has set aside $230 million to fund cybersecurity improvement and spending for the next four years. The funds are split into $47.3 million to establish Joint Cyber Threat Centres and an online threat sharing portal; $21.5 million to expand their current Computer Emergency Response Team, $10 million for a cyber-security awareness campaign, $1.6 million to develop extra education about efficient cybersecurity habits, and $2 million for government cybersecurity program expansion and a cost-recovery system for delivering cybersecurity ‘health checks’ for ASX100-listed companies.
The “National Cyber Security Strategy” is focused on establishing cybersecurity partnerships with other countries, advancing current government cyber defenses and responses, focus on growth and innovation, form cyber-smart skills and awareness among citizens, and shut existing safe havens on the internet.
While the US, Canadian and Australian governments have been recognised as the leading cybersecurity countries thanks to government intiatives, it is interesting to note that Germany and China have more vendors relating to infrastructure access and security.
Should there be more efforts dedicated to the integration of cybersecurity and physical security?
