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September 08, 2017

What Every Business Can Learn From the Presidential Executive Order on Cybersecurity


President Trump recently passed an important executive order called the Presidential Executive Order on the Establishment of the American Technology Council. The primary purpose of this order is to organize our leaders and help improve the condition of our national cybersecurity — a topic that has been receiving quite a bit of attention in recent years.

This executive order contains some important pieces of information for business leaders.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

You can’t silo cybersecurity: A key part of this executive order was the establishment of the American Technology Council, who are tasked with promoting the government’s new cybersecurity policy (which is to “promote the secure, efficient, and economical use of information technology to achieve its missions.”)

Take a look at how many people there are on this council. The list includes the President; the Vice President; the Secretary of Defense; the Secretary of Commerce; the Secretary of Homeland Security; the Director of National Intelligence; the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB); the Director of the Office of Science and Technology policy; and many more high-ranking government officials in addition to a whole host of “additional invitees” that may be added as needed.

What this shows is how cybersecurity and information technology management is not the job of any one particular person or department. Every leader now has a critical role to play in cybersecurity, regardless of their department or title. This holds true in the private sector as much as it does in the public sector.

That being said, everyone in your organization needs to be up to date with the latest cybersecurity information — from your stakeholders to your interns. You can’t silo any one particular department and hope to avoid a security incident. It just won’t work.

Cybersecurity needs funding: Pay attention to second to last paragraph, which reads:

“This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.”

From this we are reminded that without funding, cybersecurity initiatives cannot take place. Companies, just like the government, need to build cybersecurity directly into their budgets if they want to stand any chance of fending off today’s threats.

As we explained in a recent article, if you are a business leader, you can’t go home at the end of the day thinking your company is secure without taking the necessary steps to protect it. And sometimes, this requires spending money.

What’s interesting is that companies today are so quick to spend money on technology like computers, mobile devices and televisions. And yet, oftentimes they choose to wait for a cybersecurity incident before they spend money on protection. It makes no sense.

The government can’t really help much: As this document shows, the government clearly wants to protect us from cyberthreats. However, they can only do so much.

Here is a piece of advice that we repeatedly offer: Uncle Sam can only advise you when it comes to cybersecurity. The government can’t make cybercrime disappear, and it certainly can't force your business to protect its digital assets. 

Understand, though, that cybersecurity is imperative for business continuity. If you choose to neglect your network infrastructure, hackers will eventually discover your vulnerabilities, attack them and get into your network. And the scary part is that you may not even know it.

Take the recent Equifax data breach as an example. Hackers were inside of Equifax's network for about two months before they were discovered. And by that time, they made off with the personal information of about 143 million customers.  

One of the most cost-effective and reliable ways to keep your business safe is to consult with a managed services provider like Apex Technology Services. Apex offers cybersecurity training, auditing, support and rapid-response troubleshooting for companies in New York City, the surrounding areas and beyond.

Apex provides a wide range of cost-effective services that can protect your organization from the variety of cyberthreats it is now facing.

To learn more about how Apex can help your business, click here.

A new breed of hacktrepeneurs has awoken and they have little to fear and everything to gain by infecting as many companies as possible and extorting money from them. Apex Technology Services stands ready to protect your company regardless of whether it’s located in New York CityWhite Plains, New York; Connecticut; Australia; Europe; or anywhere else. Our full suite of cybersecurity and IT support services is at your disposal, enabling you to spend less time worrying about and more time growing your business.

To ensure your security, consider one of our most popular services — Auditing & Documentationwhich pinpoints vulnerabilities in your infrastructure, process flow and internal security procedures.


 

Apex Technology Services
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