Editorial
Smart Governance
Jay P Gupta
Cyber security: Concerns
clear but nobody listening
T
his May issue is before you a
bit delayed and it is not owing
to absence of manpower or any
other financial hiccups rather it was
the technological snag in our system
that left us crying for over one month
and delayed the final roll out of May
edition. All our back up data was
hacked and files got corrupted forcing
us to restart our processes.
Technology is more vulnerable
than ever to external attack. It is
disturbing that a heart pacemaker,
a dam, the grid supplying power to a
city or even a traffic system is open
to hacking. Companies at the cutting
edge of technology are neck deep in
cyber security threat assessment and
damage control.
By 2020 the Internet of Things
is on route to connect 200 billion
objects, and that includes you and
me, our pets and all the technological
marvels that make our lives easier.
Software is everywhere, but it’s also
prone to failure and attacks, leaving
us vulnerable.
If the battery on your smartphone
runs out you realize how helpless
you are without your contacts, social
media and GPS. To avoid undesirable
consequences, we must maintain
24/7 access to technology, upgrade
our software, and firewall personal
information.
Ethical hackers are disappointed
that growing technological innovation
is not creating secure homes and
safer work-spaces. Glitches and
problems we’d solved and buried are
resurfacing. The more innovative we
are, the more insecure we become.
Technology is more vulnerable
than ever to external attack. It is
disturbing that a heart pacemaker,
a dam, the grid supplying power to a
city or even a traffic system is open
to hacking. Companies at the cutting
edge of technology are neck deep in
cyber security threat assessment and
damage control.
In businesses that are aware of
growing cyber security problems and
privacy issues, an astonishing 70%
of device communication remains
unencrypted. It appears that the
cyber security threat is a three-headed
serpent.
First, cyber security issues remain
within the domain of engineers and
software pros. Other employees know
nothing or have no idea what to do.
Second, many layers of technology
(old, obsolete and new) exist in an
organization, and patching updates
to the new systems don’t resolve
vulnerability of older systems. Third,
companies are not prioritizing time,
money and personnel for cyber
security because they remain focused
By 2020 the Internet
of Things is on route
to connect 200 billion
objects, and that
includes you and
me, our pets and all
the technological
marvels that make
our lives easier.
on the production line, and bottom
line.
All technological innovations come
with their own set of “side-effects” for
it is difficult to have the yin without
the yang. The advent of the digital
age and computer integration in all
forms of data storage and analysis
has resulted in digital information
being valued at a higher pedigree
than gold itself. This has given rise
to the phenomenon of cyber security
and the adjoining paraphernalia with
it being a factor in day to day digital
interaction.
These unwanted features that
accompany progress is a challenge
that every inventor and innovator
should be able to tackle to ensure
the optimum application of the
technology.
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3 | May 2018 | www.smartgovernance.in