Feds never faced a ‘major’ cybersecurity attack in 2018

Minimalist · Aug 17, 2019

The federal government was the victim of more than 31,000 cybersecurity incidents in fiscal year 2018, according to an Office of Management and Budget report released Aug. 16.

The annual report on cybersecurity, the FISMA FY 2018 Annual Report to Congress, found that the number of cyber incidents at agencies dropped 12 percent from last year. That figure is down from 35,000 incidents the previous year.
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https://www.fifthdomain.com/it-netw...r-faced-a-major-cybersecurity-attack-in-2018/

guest · Aug 21, 2019

Why Did Federal Agencies See Fewer Breaches in 2018?
White House Report: No 'Major' Breaches Reported; Incidents Down 12 Percent
August 21, 2019
https://www.inforisktoday.com/did-federal-agencies-see-fewer-breaches-in-2018-a-12941

Meanwhile, some security experts warn that attackers may have shifted to target local and state agencies and government contractors, rather than federal agencies.
New Targets?
While that might help explain some of the decrease in cyber incidents at federal agencies last year, another factor could be that attackers have started to focus their attention on other targets, says Terence Jackson, CISO of the security firm Thycotic Software.

"One reason for the drop is due to attackers focusing on local and state agencies, which have been an easier target to infiltrate," Jackson tells Information Security Media Group. "There have also been successful attacks leveraged against government contractors. The malicious actors are targeting the weaker links in the supply chain."
"The attack tactics, techniques and procedures are evolving; it is always possible we could see significant exploit events soon," he says. "Federal agencies must remain focused on proactive measures while both government and the industry identify innovative and cost-effective methods to thwart attacks."
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guest · Aug 23, 2019

Classification Concerns Over FISMA Report on Improving Agency Cybersecurity
August 23, 2019
https://www.securityweek.com/classi...r-fisma-report-improving-agency-cybersecurity

A 'major incident' is defined as any incident that is likely to result in demonstrable harm to the national security interests, foreign relations, or the economy of the United States or to the public confidence, civil liberties, or public health and safety of the American people. It also applies, with the same criteria, to any breach involving the theft or alteration of PII belonging to more than 100,000 people.

Chris Roberts, chief security strategist at Attivo Networks, picks up on this classification concern. "So, there were no reported 'major incidents' in the reporting period," he said to SecurityWeek." Frankly, our detection is arguably not in a place where we can accurately state that. What are we defining as a major incident? Would that include airports going offline? Transportation being manipulated? Data being syphoned off on a daily basis? This, to me, would be considered critical and major. But, nope. Nobody turned the lights off on the Eastern seaboard... so I guess part of it depends what the definition of critical actually is."
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