Innovation Asset Blog

Amid retaliatory cyberattacks, officials call for boost in cybersecurity innovation

As cloud-based services increasingly become the foundation upon which modern enterprises are built, businesses are becoming more vulnerable to cyber attacks and data leaks.

Nothing better exemplifies this than the recent Wikileaks controversy, in which hundreds of thousands of private and highly secret documents and cables from around the world were released to the public.

Wednesday, the New York Times reported that a small "army" of hackers and cybercriminals have begun avenging the arrest of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange through a number of attacks on parties critical of Assange's activities including Amazon.com and PayPal, among others.

Meanwhile, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security and the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council have released details of a full-scale effort aimed at boosting innovation in cybersecurity.

The memo, released Monday, details the pooling of each group's cybersecurity resources to promote research and development in an arena that White House officials have referred to as vital to maintaining a competitive edge in the increasingly digital world.

"Working together, these partners will use the power of innovation to make cyberspace safer and more resilient for the nation, its citizens and its businesses," wrote Federal Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard A. Schmidt.

Peter Ackerman

Peter Ackerman

Founder & CEO, Innovation Asset Group, Inc.