The fifth annual Federal Cybersecurity Survey by SolarWinds identifies careless/untrained insiders and foreign governments as the top cybersecurity threats to US federal agencies. The two threat categories were mentioned by 56% and 52% of federal IT leaders in the survey (multiple answers were possible). Both numbers signified record-highs.
That insider threats clinched the top spot did not surprise Jim Hansen of SolarWinds. “Malicious behavior is something that can create a significant amount of harm for the agency itself, but the careless insider is really the more dangerous one,” he stated, explaining that many federal workers “don’t necessarily think about security from day to day, and yet the organization has given them all kinds of access to resources.”
Read more: Survey: Cybersecurity Threats from Careless Insiders and Foreign Governments Reach All-Time Highs
