Report: IT outsourcing facing escalated security risks
Your business might want to stop and think before it joins the huge offshore outsourcing drive.
A study put out by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance says that outsourcing in the IT sector poses escalating cyber security risks.
The report by the INSA warns that federal authorities that have outsourced a large portion of IT services to foreign countries run the risk of allowing hackers to gain unauthorized access into their supply chains and information technology systems.
“The U.S. government has significantly outsourced portions of the design, implementation and maintenance of IT to other countries, where our potential adversaries can easily insert themselves into our logistical chains,” the report states.
While no specific examples of the country’s outsourcing expenditures are listed in the report, the INSA does paint a grave picture when it comes to potential risks involving U.S.’ IT operations.
“The present situation is as dangerous as if the United States decided to outsource the design of bridges, electrical grids, and other physical infrastructure to the Soviet Union during the Cold War,” INSA states in the report.
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While the report is strictly government related, the risks are the same when choosing to outsource any type of organization’s IT operations. Federal Computer Week recommends that officials (or any executive in charge) do the following to safeguard against an IT attack
- Systematically define and establish effective cyber intelligence approaches, professions, skill sets, training, education and technologies.
- Enable cyber intelligence policies and pilot efforts across industry, academia/non-profits, and government.
- Establish public-private cyber outreach forums.
- Build a meaningful partnership among all relevant agencies and the private sector to ensure the seamless sharing of information.
