'Cybercriminals' a Looming Federal Security Threat?

The press tends to focus on the threat of a foreign regime disrupting the U.S. government's information systems, but the professionals dedicated to protecting IT are equally concerned with groups of organized hackers.

That's according to an InformationWeek report, "Federal Cybersecurity: The New Threat Landscape," prepared by Ed Moyle and Diana Kelley, founding partners of SecurityCurve, based in Amherst, N.H.

"Survey respondents point to cybercriminals and hacktivists as the biggest threats to information security, followed by rogue insiders and foreign governments," the co-authors report. Read the full cybersecurity research on InformationWeek.

President Obama has identified cybersecurity as "one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation," according to the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. The initiative's goals include:

• Establishing a front line of defense against today's immediate threats "by creating or enhancing shared situational awareness of network vulnerabilitieis, threats, and events within the Federal Government–and ultimately with state, local, and tribal governments and private sector partners–and the ability to act quickly to reduce our current vulnerabilities and prevent intrusions."
• Enhancing U.S. counterintelligence capabilities and increasing the security of supply chains for key technologies.
• Expanding cyber education, coordinating research and development across government, and developing strategies to deter "hostile or malicious activity" in cyberspace.