Today, the Committee for Economic Development, the public policy center of The Conference Board (CED), issued a new Solutions Brief, Securing Cyberspace in an Era of Evolving Threats. The report—the latest in a series on Sustaining Capitalism—illustrates the ever-growing threat of cyberattacks, especially ransomware attacks, and looks at the factors that make it harder to secure against such threats, including a talent gap. It also includes several recommendations for bolstering cyber protection and resilience and building a cyber workforce and talent pipeline. 

The report's central theme is that leaders in the public and private sectors must work more closely together to better secure cyberspace. That will mean sharing information, collaborating against accelerating threats, and working in tandem to train a cybersecurity workforce large enough to protect Americans and their data.  A cyberattack occurs in the United States every 39 seconds, a frequency that is only expected to increase, especially because the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of cloud services and other digital technologies.

"Cybersecurity is no longer just an issue for the IT department, but is now a critical responsibility for CEOs, c-suites, and boards in all organizations," said Dr. Lori Esposito Murray, President of CED. "This responsibility won't be met effectively without more robust coordination and partnerships between public- and private-sector leaders—spanning major corporations to smaller businesses to the federal government to state and local governments. Cyber threats are growing in numbers, complexity, and intelligence, underscoring the importance and urgency of acting against cyber criminals while also making our systems significantly more resilient."