Increased governrment action on private sector cybersecurity sought

Ninety-five percent of security professionals across the US believe that the federal government should bolster private sector cybersecurity, 43% of which reported the need for improved National Institute of Standards and Technology security standards, according to a Tripwire survey reported by TechRepublic. The poll also showed that while 81% of respondents working for the government reported that the federal government's ransomware prevention measures were enough, 71% and 80% of those in critical infrastructure and other private sector firms, respectively, noted the inadequacy of such efforts. However, respondents were equally divided on which between the government and private sector had better cybersecurity. Moreover, 59% of respondents noted that they were only barely keeping up with new cybersecurity threats and 12% said they were lagging, mainly due to insufficient expertise and resources, the survey revealed. Security professionals were found to be most concerned about ransomware attacks, vulnerability exploits, phishing emails and social engineering.