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The State of Cybersecurity

State of the Union combats cyberattacks

If the major security breaches of last year didn’t provide a rude awakening, then the last two weeks should have at least made it clear that our government has prioritized cyber security and is taking steps to protect its citizens.

Two weeks ago, President Obama announced a slew of initiatives under new cyber security legislation that would criminalize overseas sale of stolen U.S. financial info, allow a harsher punishment for botnet use, and require companies to notify users within 30 days of any hack. Last week, the cyber security conversation was amplified by the State of the Union address with the President calling for Congress to pass the legislation “we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyberattacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information.”

Tanium’s approach to cyberattacks

At Tanium, we are working to shift the cybersecurity conversation from a reactive approach to cyberattacks to proactively fighting against future attacks and threats, both internal and external. In a post on VentureBeat, Chad Fulgham, Chief Strategy Officer, outlined simple steps companies can take to shift their approach to thwarting insider threats: do the easy stuff first, give your employees only the necessary level of access, build relationships with local law enforcement prior to needing their help. Chad also shared his response to the SOTU and the legislation on Bloomberg TV and Fortune. He commended the right sentiment behind the legislation, but stressed that organizations need to shift from retroactive, defense-minded strategies to a proactive approach, adopting response methodologies to easily scale and match the speed of their attackers in real time.

As long as our stance, as an industry and as a nation, remains defensive, as it is today, our ability to prevent cyberattacks will not advance, while our attackers do. We must change our tone and stance and go on the offensive, with real-time access to data that will thwart attacks as part of a modern approach to cyber security.


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