The public sector, including both government agencies and government contractors, has historically been a prime target for cyberattacks. Over the last few years, we have seen an escalation in the number and severity of attacks, threats and malicious actors targeting the sector. To understand the risk and underlying issues affecting the public sector, we must understand that it is not homogeneous. The sector is by definition governed and budgeted by a single overarching civic body (the federal government), which encompasses all public services and enterprises.

But despite this, each entity within the sector has different objectives, agendas, political restraints and a multitude of other factors that set it apart from other entities within the sector. For example, establishing a clear segmentation between the private and public sectors can be challenging because of numerous overlaps between the two. This is further complicated by the growing trend towards privatization. For this reason, the public sector contains civil governmental agencies, including state and local municipalities, and some critical infrastructure and services. Moreover, while much commentary focuses on the U.S. government public sector, many of the issues presented are applicable to governmental organizations around the world.

The Q4 2018 BDO Cyber Threats Insights Report discusses recent cyber security activities including:

• Global Public Sector challenges
• Public Sector notable attacks and events in 2018
• National cybersecurity strategic plans: country-specific spotlights

download the report