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Background for this topic.
Government encompasses public institutions and the systems used to administer services, enforce laws, manage public funds, and protect classified or otherwise sensitive information. Its distinctive assets include identity and benefits records, tax and health data, diplomatic material, election infrastructure, and operational technology supporting utilities or emergency services. Availability and integrity can be as important as confidentiality: outages or altered records may disrupt essential services, public safety, or legal processes.
Security therefore spans citizen-facing portals, internal networks, remote access, contractors, and shared infrastructure, including systems that depend on legacy technology or tightly connected suppliers. Espionage, credential compromise, exploitation of unpatched vulnerabilities, and disruptive attacks are material risks, though exposure varies by agency and system. Useful controls include strong identity management, network segmentation, encryption, privacy safeguards, prioritized vulnerability management, tested backups, and rehearsed incident response. Procurement rules, records obligations, and sector-specific compliance also shape how agencies collect, retain, share, and investigate data.
Chinese government employs spyware to detect so-called "pre-crimes" including using a VPN, religious apps, or WhatsApp, new analysis reveals.
The Toebbes tried selling US Navy secrets, but handed them right to the FBI A woman and her husband, who both copped to trying to sell nuclear warship secrets to a foreign government, have been sentenced to prison, with each set to spend around two decades behind bars.…
Giant forecasts premiums rising to $23b by 2025 As insurance companies struggle to stay afloat amid rising cyber claims, Swiss Re has recommended a public-private partnership insurance scheme with one option being a government-backed fund to help fill the coverage gap.…
Not when pre-activity is exposed, says Red Canary Webinar In April this year the Costa Rican Government declared a national emergency because of a ransomware attack that brought the Ministry of Finance to the edge, and bludgeoned private as well as public import/export services. In May a second attack decapitated its national healthcare service.…
Australia's Medibank uses a government-approved Band-Aid to cover a gaping 10-milion-record wound Australian health insurer Medibank – which spent October discovering a security incident was worse than it first thought – has announced it will not pay a ransom to attackers that made off with personal info describing nearly ten million customers.…