Federal agencies are grappling with the complexities of managing diverse IT environments that include mission-critical applications, public clouds, on-premise data centres and edge computing setups. The need to monitor different internal operations, comply with various regulations and support specialized department functions adds to the cybersecurity challenges.
These challenges have become even more urgent following recent large-scale cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and federal systems. These attacks accounted for nearly half of all ransomware incidents and exposed serious vulnerabilities that threaten human safety, national security, and economic stability. A June 2024 Government Accountability Office report highlighted these risks, noting that 126 cybersecurity recommendations have yet to be implemented.
Given the key insights presented in the GAO report and the increase in cyberattacks against the federal government, it is clear that government agencies must prioritize integrated cyber risk management frameworks and AI-enabled cybersecurity best practices to strengthen their overall IT security. Let’s consider how government agencies can achieve these mission objectives.
Agencies must consolidate their cyber risk management frameworks to eliminate organizational silos. One of the major obstacles to effective IT management within federal agencies is the organizational silos that impede communication, coordination, and comprehensive risk management. Leveraging new cybersecurity technologies that enable security and operations teams to jointly review and analyze data is essential to eliminating these silos. This consolidation eliminates a fragmented approach to risk management and promotes a consistent, effective strategy. By adopting a unified IT security framework, agencies can more efficiently manage complex environments.
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Government agencies must adopt AI-powered cybersecurity strategies to combat evolving threats. As attackers use increasingly sophisticated techniques, integrating AI into cybersecurity is critical to ensure scalability and efficiency. Gartner predicts that by 2026, more than 70% of government agencies will use AI to support their decision-making processes. Integrating AI into cybersecurity is not a future-oriented aspiration, it is a necessity to enhance both security and operational efficiency.
However, rapid advances in AI are creating new cybersecurity challenges. As agencies adopt AI technologies, the attack surface also expands, creating vulnerabilities that traditional security measures cannot address. To mitigate these risks, agencies must evolve their security frameworks, integrate AI-powered defenses, and focus on AI literacy among federal employees. Establishing robust ethical guidelines and ongoing oversight mechanisms is also essential to safeguard sensitive data and maintain public trust in a federal government enhanced with AI-powered technologies.
Additionally, a Splunk survey revealed that 86% of CISOs believe generative AI can help alleviate skills shortages on security teams by automating labor-intensive tasks like patching. This automation allows federal security operations (SecOps) to focus on higher-value risk reduction activities. Challenges such as tool and asset sprawl, increased ransomware and phishing attacks, and an increase in zero-day vulnerabilities are driving federal agencies to adopt AI. AI-powered cybersecurity technologies are essential to classify critical assets, detect suspicious activity, and proactively block attacks.
Government agencies must adopt AI-powered cybersecurity and risk management to meet federal mandates and obligations. For federal agencies to address these multifaceted challenges, it is critical that they adopt comprehensive cyberrisk management strategies, tools, and techniques. A unified approach to IT security can provide a centralized, coordinated IT security framework that is essential to manage diverse software and complex IT environments, effectively mitigate risk, and increase overall operational efficiency. Federal mandates such as the Office of Management and Budget Memorandum M-22-09, which requires agencies to adopt Zero Trust cybersecurity principles by the end of FY2024, require agencies to put in place tools and strategies that accelerate the transition from a traditional perimeter-based security model to a resilient framework that emphasizes comprehensive cyberrisk management.
Government agencies should also leverage configuration management databases for risk prioritization. Proactive risk management is essential for modern IT security policies. It involves continuous vulnerability assessment, efficient risk communication to stakeholders, and implementation of mitigation measures. This strategy not only protects critical infrastructure but also increases the overall effectiveness of government operations. AI-driven solutions enable government agencies to analyze massive data sets, identify potential threats, and predict cyberattacks before they occur, significantly improving the speed and effectiveness of threat detection and incident response capabilities.
Federal agencies need a unified way to manage different security technologies and applications across their IT environments. That’s why it’s important to prioritize risk based on the context of assets in a broader configuration management database (CMDB). This approach includes categorizing assets, analyzing the threat landscape, and understanding the attack surface. Doing so helps agencies implement more effective corrective actions and deliver a robust risk management strategy. Here’s why:
Managing the Federal Government’s technical debt associated with end-of-life and end-of-support technology is critical.
End-of-life (EoL) and end-of-support (EoS) technologies are of significant concern to federal IT and security teams because they introduce critical vulnerabilities that cannot be patched. In fact, nearly half (48%) of CISA’s known exploitable vulnerabilities are found in EoS software, and cybercriminals frequently target legacy government technology. Additionally, vulnerabilities related to EoS software are four times more likely to be weaponized. And while IT teams handle budgets and upgrades, federal cybersecurity teams must address the risks and vulnerability exposure these legacy systems create. To mitigate these risks, security teams need an effective methodology to measure and communicate risk, facilitating proactive collaboration with IT for timely upgrades and security measures.
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Integrating IT operations (ITOps) into federal cybersecurity is essential to strengthening cyber defenses against modern threats.
Government agencies face the challenge of managing an external attack surface that includes a large number of unknown and vulnerable assets. Effective asset discovery and risk assessment are essential to mitigate and secure these external assets. IT operations must integrate cybersecurity efforts with a unified view of technology and risk management to bridge the gap between managing asset procurement, change, and efficiency and prioritizing risk. Additionally, comprehensive asset inventory management must go beyond mere visibility to include assessment of vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and missing security controls to ensure a robust agency-wide security framework.
Finally, AI-enabled cybersecurity and risk management should also be seen as a mission enabler.
Effective risk management is both a protective measure and a strategic driver that promotes streamlined operations and increases efficiency. Advanced strategies and cyber risk management best practices help agencies prioritize risks based on impact and support strategic resource allocation. Understanding and managing your “risk posture” allows for informed decisions that reduce disruption and support mission objectives.
Ultimately, strengthening cyber defenses within federal agencies is a strategic necessity and imperative to national security and the protection of citizen data. Therefore, adopting an integrated cyber risk management framework and leveraging AI-powered cybersecurity technologies can help agencies manage complex environments and more effectively defend against evolving threats.
Ultimately, these advanced strategies and technologies are essential to building a cyber-resilient government that can effectively mitigate risks and achieve mission-critical objectives.
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Joe Petrocelli is vice president of product management at Qualys.
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