When most see cyberattacks as something that is impactful at the organizational level, the head of the National Security Agency sees cyberattacks as being a threat to the entire nation.
Just as you and I hear so much about cybercriminals attempting an attack on various organizations for purpose of data theft or ransomware, the U.S. military faces millions of attempts to access their networks by means of vulnerability scans, phishing attacks, and more.
In a recent interview with ABC News, Director of the National Security Agency and Commander of U.S. Cyber Command Gen. Paul Nakasone highlighted how recent ransomware attacks have elevated his own opinion of cyber attacks from a “criminal matter” to now being a matter of national security, stating “What's at stake is obviously the security of our nation. We don't want to have a failure to imagine what's happening.”
At the Integrated Cyber Command Center at Fort Meade in Maryland, a mix of military, civilians, and contractors work together using “Hunt Forward” teams that are asked to threat hunt on networks globally, sharing threat intel with private sector businesses.
Nakasone also mentioned six months ago he would have graded the cyber-readiness of American businesses at a "low C" based on their investment in security infrastructure to protect their networks and through educating their users. "I think that we've gotten a lot better since then, but we still have a ways to go."
One of the key areas that businesses can address today is the education of their users through Security Awareness Training, where users can be made a part of your organization’s security stance, standing vigilant against email- and web-based threats that use social engineering to trick victims into engaging with malicious content.
This is obviously getting serious. So, while you’re thinking about the one organization you’re responsible for, realize it’s a much larger problem and your organization is just one point of entry into the larger issue of national security.
New-school Security Awareness Training is critical to enabling you and your IT staff to connect with users and help them make the right security decisions all of the time. This isn't a one and done deal, continuous training and simulated phishing are both needed to mobilize users as your last line of defense. Request your one-on-one demo of KnowBe4's security awareness training and simulated phishing platform and see how easy it can be!
