In our time, the need for stricter cybersecurity is becoming more and more urgent. However, the vast majority of cyber attending this year's Black Hat conference in Las Vegas agreed that politicians are not in a position to effectively regulate internet .
While 80 percent of security professionals agree that more security and privacy legislation is needed, especially for social media that stores personal data, they do not believe that politicians sufficiently understand cyber risks to develop and implement effective security regulations.
Specifically, 93 percent of security professionals do not trust social media to protect their personal information, 82 percent do not trust the government to protect their personal information, and 80 percent say government officials do not have a good understanding of digital risks.
“There are many legislators, regulators and law enforcement officials around the world proposing controversial surveillance laws, such as government-controlled encrypted backdoors ,” said Kevin Bocek, vice president of security strategy and threat intelligence at Venafi. “However, security professionals lack confidence in the ability of politicians to improve cybersecurity given the unabated number of government breaches in the U.S. and around the world.”
Bocek argues that while new legislation is indeed necessary, politicians need to learn more about cybersecurity before moving forward with it.
“Our research results send a clear message that governments need to improve their knowledge of cybersecurity to achieve meaningful impact and help security advocates protect the global economy, freedoms and privacy,” he said.
A recent study conducted by IBM, following the rise of ransomware against cities, reveals a gap between taxpayer expectations and public resources, creating a challenge for local and state governments to combat the threat of ransomware. Taxpayers see ransomware as a threat to their personal data and data , and 60% of U.S. citizens surveyed are against their local governments using tax dollars to pay ransom.
