According to IBM, as recent threats such as the SolarWinds and the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack against critical infrastructure have shown, the threat landscape has crossed over from the digital world to the physical. The 2021 IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence Index found that ransomware accounted for 33% of the attacks on government organizations in 2020. With the U.S. Federal government furthering its investment in hybrid cloud, new approaches for cybersecurity should focus on protecting both systems as well as data - no matter where it is – either on premise, in the cloud, or at the edge.
"IBM is committed to helping our U.S. Federal government customers meet cybersecurity modernization requirements – both for current and future threats," said Stephen LaFleche, general manager, public and federal market, IBM. "Hybrid cloud environments can provide an opportunity to implement new technologies and techniques, like a zero trust framework and advanced encryption—while helping make the government more accessible and easier for citizens work with. These techniques are also being applied in other highly regulated industries, such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare."
A central goal of the IBM Center for Government Cybersecurity is to provide access to information on cybersecurity technologies IBM is using with the public and private sectors, and security innovations being developed in IBM Research laboratories via workshops.
Some of initial examples of the sessions IBM will conduct will focus on adapting to a zero trust world, hybrid cloud security challenges for data portability, and the future of cryptography.
U.S. Federal agency customers seeking more information on the IBM Center for Government Cybersecurity should speak to their IBM representative or visit: http://ibm.biz/us-federal-cyber-center.