America discusses cyber crime in State of the Union address

Barrack Obama has encouraged Congress to give a pass on legislation offering more protection from cyber attacks.

In the recent State of the Union address, the President made his thoughts clear on the need to combat cyber crime. He said:

“We are making sure our government integrates intelligence to combat cyber threats, just as we have done to combat terrorism. And tonight, I urge this Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyber-attacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information.”

Obama went on to say that if they chose to do nothing, the country and their economy will be susceptible to the increasing threats of the digital era.

After the Sony Pictures attack late last year, the President has shown an increased interest in the need to protect his country from cyber criminals. Early this year, Obama imposed sanctions on North Korea, the country to which the US assigns responsibility for the attacks on the motion picture giant.

Dean Manky, from Fortinet’s global security strategy team, told SCMagazine.com that although political complications can ensue in seeing such legislative motions through to completion, he believes Obama is doing the right thing.

Obama certainly sees the need for increased cyber security in the White House and undoubtedly Sony Pictures will also be increasing their cyber security measures. However, it is also up to SMEs to take responsibility for their own data. If they fail to take their IT security recruitment seriously enough, they will find themselves increasingly vulnerable.