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Security Top Investment Priority for APEJ Public Sector Executives

Security Top Investment Priority for APEJ Public Sector Executives

Added 19th Jul 2010

Team CIO

IDC Government Insights has found that the increasing complexity of the virtualized threat landscape brought about by emerging technologies such as cloud computing, and new ways of transacting information through new media and web 2.0 initiatives have bolstered the importance of public sector ICT security.

More insights are revealed in the study, "Building Resilience, Security and Privacy in Evolving Public Sector Environments (Doc #AP9694201S, June 2010)," which discusses the global cyber security pressures that the public sector in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) or APEJ is facing (See Figure 1) and strategies taken by countries in the region to combat these issues.

Janet Chiew, Research Manager at IDC Government Insights Asia/Pacific says, "Critical national initiatives such as cost reduction, jobs creation and economic revival have been taking center-stage since the start of the economic sub-prime crisis in September 2008. But, the tide has changed: IDC Government Insights sees growth in the security front as governments contend with new societal and technological trends that increasingly demand open access to information and data over exposed public networks."

She advises, "To combat international cyber terrorism, Asia/Pacific public sectors need to continually address the disclosure, archival and ownership of data surrounding web 2.0 and social media, as well as increase collaborations at national and global levels."

Gerald Wang, Senior Market Analyst at IDC Government Insights Asia/Pacific adds, "Given the global nature of IT security threats and the growing number of incidents targeting the public sector, IDC Government Insights foresees that a whole new complex IT security paradigm will emerge in the near future."

Other key findings revealed in this report include:

An alarming proportion of public sector officers initiated investments in security products/services only upon experiencing or hearing data leaks or security breaches in their organizations or other similar sectors.
X-as-a-service platforms, infrastructure and applications will further complicate ICT security considerations as the Asia/Pacific public sectors forays into new ways of accessing IT software and computing resources through the cloud.

Janet concludes, "Starting with national security masterplans and policies, it is integral that governments put in place structured mechanisms so as to bring about tangible results when implementing ICT security."