Federal cybersecurity leaders are struggling to protect information

A new survey of 150 federal cybersecurity leaders finds that 73 percent of respondents feel a lack of foundational data protection efforts puts their agency at risk.

In addition the research, from data protection provider Zettaset, shows 77 percent say that siloed systems that lack visibility make it difficult to properly protect critical assets. It's not surprising then that 57 percent report experiencing multiple data breaches over the past two years.

On a positive note 89 percent are investing in data protection as part of their larger compliance strategy. The administration's Executive Order on Cybersecurity has sparked a movement towards the adoption of zero trust principles. and has motivated federal cybersecurity leaders to invest in data protection solutions such as multi-factor authentication (67 percent), end-to-end encryption (57 percent) and data loss prevention (49 percent).

"Zero trust is no longer a nice to have, but a necessary mindset in today's evolving threat landscape. Borrowing a few of the core tenets from the Cyber EO's zero trust blueprint can lead to an increasingly more secure and responsive security framework," says Tim Reilly, CEO of Zettaset.

The order has also motivated federal cybersecurity leaders to invest in data protection solutions such as multi-factor authentication (67 percent), end-to-end encryption (57 percent) and data loss prevention (49 percent).

"Our findings point to a reassuring new development in federal data protection strategies," continues Reilly. "Almost all (94 percent) feel encryption is key to protecting confidential citizen data. And, respondents (63 percent) believe that end-to-end encryption could prevent over half of data breaches in their agency. Historically, encryption has been viewed as too complex, costly and slow. Today, federal agencies are tasked with securing some of our nation's most confidential information and these organizations are confident that encryption is vital to a more secure data protection framework."

You can read more on the Zettaset blog.

Photo credit: Andrea Izzotti / Shutterstock