SolarWinds Public Sector said in a new report published today that 60 percent of IT professionals surveyed by the firm believe that foreign governments present the biggest security threat facing critical IT infrastructure in the U.S.
The report found that the cybersecurity threats posed by nation-states have surpassed other security concerns – like having untrained or less-educated staff when it comes to being prepared for IT problems.
“For federal respondents, foreign governments have become a significantly greater source of IT security threats over time, with reports nearly doubling from 2014 (34%) to 2023 (63%),” states the report.
Other key takeaways from the report include a significant increase in the amount of zero trust approaches that have since been adopted by government organizations in recent years.
“85% of public sector organizations now use a formal or informal zero-trust approach to IT security. This increase is driven by federal and state/local government respondents,” states the report.
The report points other areas of significant concern among IT professionals.
“Most public sector respondents are moderately concerned with their organization’s software supply chain security and feel vendor attestations and SBOMs are important,” states the report.
One of the key findings from the report – only about two out of 10 respondents reported being “extremely/very concerned with software supply chain security. Over half are moderately concerned.”
Further on the software security front, two-thirds of those surveyed “have begun requesting or planning to request software bill of materials (SBOMs) from vendors and say it is extremely/very important that vendors provide information on how they develop and secure their software,” the report says.
