Many federal, state, and local government agencies are operating old, outdated and end-of-life network equipment. You may think this just means slower, less efficient operation – not worth the cost to refresh your infrastructure, right? Wrong. Outdated network equipment is actually a major cybersecurity risk, particularly for government agencies, as it makes networks more susceptible to hacks and other forms of cyber-attacks.
Why, exactly, is it so bad to use old IT equipment? During a technology’s supported life, vendors routinely issue security patches and updates to protect them against evolving threats. But once unsupported, the equipment loses this protection and obsolete platforms are unable to support current cybersecurity needs.
Agencies that continue to operate this equipment not only are missing out on the efficiency and economy of up-to-date technology, but also are expending resources to maintain weaknesses in their networks that are vulnerable to exploit. Refreshing your network infrastructure, then, is a win-win situation: your agency will have more efficient technology and you’ll be able to better protect your network from cyberattacks. When you look at it this way, why would you risk not doing it?
But many agencies are continuing to use out-of-date equipment. To bring awareness to the issue, and help the public sector address it, we partnered with GovLoop to develop a whitepaper on the subject, Cybersecurity Risk: The Driver for IT Modernization. In the report, Anthony Grieco, Senior Director of Cisco’s Security and Trust Organization, gives his take on the need for government to modernize. To download the full report, go here. And to learn more about Cisco’s resources for network refreshes, visit our Don’t Risk IT page
Hark back to Y2K – and how many banks are still running on XP with holes in their servers bigger than a Mack truck. We’re far beyond the systems crashing stage and the point is well made in your blog that it’s time to look at what’s happening outside the walls.
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