A vast majority of Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) stakeholders agree the DHS program is more important than ever considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the Federal government’s transition to “maximized telework.”
That’s a major conclusion from new research conducted by MeriTalk, which surveyed CDM stakeholders attending MeriTalk’s virtual CDM Central event in June 2020. The infographic investigates CDM’s impact during the pandemic and shares lessons learned for the months ahead.
The top-line findings show agencies are using the program to address new cybersecurity threats as the attack surface expands by:
- Enabling continuous and comprehensive device monitoring;
- Increasing the pace of data sharing; and
- Increasing the use of Request for Service (RFS) applications.
Still, 63 percent feel agencies are not doing enough to apply CDM principles in the “maximized telework” environment, leaving endpoints vulnerable. Stakeholders recommend agencies take additional steps, such as:
- Investing in more cloud-based CDM solutions (57 percent);
- Expanding applications to cloud environments (52 percent); and
- Expanding applications to mobile environments (48 percent).
As agencies navigate the “new normal”, stakeholders recommend increasing efforts to improve CDM data quality, leveraging the Federal dashboard and security analytics to evolve, and continuing to assess changing risks due to the expansion of online collaboration tools, cloud, and mobile devices.
For more information on how CDM can help Federal agencies in the COVID-19 era and beyond, view MeriTalk’s “The Eye of the Storm: CDM in the Pandemic” infographic.