Cybersecurity for Government is Crucial
In these trying times government agencies everywhere must be resilient when it comes to cybersecurity.
Cyber resilience is an organization’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from cyber threats. A cyber-resilient organization can adequately adapt to known and unknown crises, threats, adversities, and challenges.
Resiliency is an absolute necessity when it comes to protecting sensitive data year-round. So, how can government agencies continue to improve their cybersecurity resilience? Read on to find out the top five ways.
One: Have an Official Cybersecurity Plan in Place
Having a documented cybersecurity policy that serves as a formal guide to all cybersecurity measures can make a huge difference. It not only allows security specialists and employees to be on the same page, but it also gives you a way to enforce the set rules put in place to protect your data.
This cybersecurity plan may include things like investing in cyber insurance, reinforcing mobile access policies, using strong password protection and multi-factor authentication, staying current with software integrations, and more.
Related Reading: How to Create a Cybersecurity Policy for Your Organization
Two: Provide Cybersecurity Training
Social engineering is one of the most common methods used by hackers to take advantage of an organization’s systems. The truth is that it takes only one uneducated employee to click on a malicious link for an entire network to be infiltrated by cybercriminals.
Provide employees with training on the latest security protocols. Ensure that they’re engaging with the materials and following the guidelines. Regularly educate them on the common methods that hackers use so they can stay vigilant against the latest threats.
Some organizations even regularly test their employees on their cybersecurity knowledge to make sure they are staying knowledgeable on security best practices.
Related Reading: 10 Cybersecurity Tips and Best Practices
Three: Ensure Data Content is Inspected with a DLP Solution
A Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution helps safeguard business-critical data by detecting and preventing accidental disclosure of sensitive data. This data security tactic also helps satisfy compliance regulations and data privacy laws, such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, CCPA or GDPR, that require secure environments and appropriate protection of data. DLP does so through features such as:
- Data redaction: Replacing sensitive text with a series of asterisks to protect PII, PCI, HIPPA, and sensitive information from being received or sent out.
- Document sanitization: Removing metadata from documents, such as track changes, author information, digital signatures, etc.
- Optical character recognition: Detecting text in images that can be contained in scanned documents and can redact them.
Related Reading: The Top 5 Reasons Why Government Agencies Need MFT
Four: Secure and Manage File Transfers with MFT
GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer (MFT) protects data confidentiality in public sector organizations by helping agencies meet the strict requirements they’re accountable for, eliminating manual processes, strengthening data encryption, and more.
GoAnywhere simplifies and secures file transfer operations for those in the government by doing the following:
- Translating and converting data to and from popular formats like EDI X12, EDIFACT, and XML
- Running on popular platforms like Windows, Linux, Amazon EC2, Microsoft Azure, IBM i, and Docker
- Supporting secure protocols like FTPS, SFTP, and HTTP(S)
- Complying with FISMA and additional file transfer requirements
- Encrypting data using FIPS 140-2 compliant AES and Triple DES algorithms
- Meeting popular encryption methods like Open PGP, Zip with AES, and encryption at rest
Related Reading: How Government Organizations Secure Data with GoAnywhere MFT
Five: Offer Remote Work Support
As remote working has become the new normal, make sure that employees can log into your network securely from anywhere.
GoAnywhere MFT tackles remote file transfers, both small and large, with its ability to monitor and configure file transfers remotely through the GoAnywhere dashboard.
With MFT Agents, government agencies can effectively and efficiently take advantage of remote monitoring, syncing directories, and more. The agents provide remote file transfer capabilities in real-time and can be installed virtually anywhere. Desktops and servers located on-premises, external systems such as trading partners, and even the cloud are all viable options.
