Cybersecurity and data protection, more than ever, are priority items for the government and private sector. The government’s interest is to protect the country from a cyberattack that will cripple the economy or critical infrastructure. The private sector’s interest is to protect its products as well as the safety of its customers’ financial and private data. Recent high-profile data breaches exposed vulnerabilities in the safety of our country’s consumer data, which is the bedrock of the rebounding economy, resulting in millions of dollars in damages.
The government has reacted by proposing legislative “fixes” that would require organizations to satisfy basic levels of cybersecurity protection and disclose breaches or face fines. Whether a mandatory compliance model for cybersecurity will be effective given the rapid pace by which technology advances is unclear. It may be unrealistic to expect the government’s legislative pace to keep up with hackers.
