Critical analysis and replies needed

Digital Government, also know an E-Government is the government’s way of making government data easily assessable through Internet Technology (I.T.). Digital Government also aids and encourages the interaction between citizens and government agencies as well as allows agencies to provide easy, efficient government services to customers (107th Congress, 2002). With the convenience of massive amounts of easily accessible government data comes the need for cyber security to protect from threats.  A cyber security threat is any malicious entity that can directly cause or influence the lost, theft or misuse of secured data. These threats can be launched from various sources, e.g., common hackers, insider threats, criminal enterprises (ICS-Cert, 2016).      

As an administration we will ensure digital government services are secure by first developing an engrained understanding of the potential threats. After such, we will establish the necessary security mechanisms to combat these threats and employ maintainers to ensure our security methods are updated and remain effective. We will constantly monitor potential threats and adjust/upgrade our security measure to defend all new threats. We will ensure handlers of information are trained and cognizant of how to properly receive, distribute and maintain government information. In addition all employees will be able to recognize any system behavior that may imply the system is under attack. We will ensure reporting procedures are well known amongst all handlers of government information. We will emphasize and enforce the requirement to report all security breaches in a timely manner and conduct rehearsals on system recovery procedures.     

In the past, seemingly in an attempt to conceal the information, administrations have delayed reporting security breaches. In a 2014 Computer World article, Darlene Storm wrote about hacked government agencies. These agencies included the White House, USPS and NOAA. All of the aforementioned had unexplainable delays in reporting cyber security breaches (Storm, 2014). When administrations fail to immediately report data breaches they risk the chance of hackers doing more damage. The sooner the violation is reported the sooner a solution can be implemented and recovery can begin.   

References

107th Congress. (2002, December 17). Retrieved from National Institute of Standards and Technology: http://www.nist.gov/director/oism/upload/PL107-347.pdf

ICS-Cert. (2016). Cyber Threat Source Descriptions. Retrieved from ICS-Cert: https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/content/cyber-threat-source-descriptions

Storm, D. (2014, November 17). List of hacked government agencies grows: State Department, White House, NOAA & USPS. Retrieved from Computer World: http://www.computerworld.com/article/2848779/list-of-hacked-government-agencies-grows-state-department-white-house-noaa-and-usps.html