Politico: "How should the U.S. address cybersecurity risks exposed by the broader move to telework?"

Photo: CSO Online

There is no doubt that after the coronavirus pandemic dies down, life will not be the same.  I wrote a blog post which discussed some changes at the outset of the end of the epidemic - lines, testing, paperwork to enter places of business -- which depends on the country.   My mother works in the healthcare industry.  She now works from home by 'teleworking' or 'telecommuting' via the internet.  How does this change of venue for her and others impact the United States Cybersecurity as a whole?



Recently, reporting from Politico Nightly has a short paragraph response from two elected officials shown below:

How should the U.S. address cybersecurity risks exposed by the broader move to telework?

"In the Armed Services Committee we use a term, 'attack surface.' This has massively expanded the attack surface, the target areas for malevolent actors. Particularly in the private sector, it opens up new avenues for penetrating private networks. I'm talking about businesses all the way from retail to national defense. Our commission found something like 90 percent of private sector cyberattacks can be prevented by simple cyber hygiene. It's a serious problem that just got a lot more serious." — Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), co-chair of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, as told to cybersecurity reporter Tim Starks

"One of the many things we've learned from this crisis is that the federal government was unprepared for a massive and sudden shift to work remotely. That can't happen again." — Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), also co-chair of that commission

As Americans consider returning to civilized life after a pandemic, changes are inevitable.  The United States, along with the rest of the world, has been caught off guard.  At the very least, serious consideration into changes at the infrastructure will be a high priority in both chambers of Congress, to begin with. 



Otherwise, we (as a nation) will find ourselves back in the same vulnerable position that we were at the beginning of the year and the pandemic.  Change needs to occur.  When will our elected officials take hold of the steering wheel from the Trump administration and start making changes to protect us?  Time will tell.




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