COVID-19 , Governance & Risk Management , IT Risk Management

COVID-19: Growing Cybersecurity Risks

In the rush to respond to the COVID-19 crisis – including the rapid-pace development of a vaccine and treatments - cybersecurity considerations are being neglected, creating additional risks, says Kelvin Coleman, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance.

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“That is my biggest fear as we rush out a vaccine: that we’re not necessarily thinking about - at least not at the top of the list - the security of that apparatus, of getting those things out,” he says.

And as data is collected about the individuals who get vaccinated, “you want to secure that information,” he says in a video interview with Marianne Kolbasuk McGee of Information Security Media Group.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 contact tracing presents many potential privacy issues, including the risk of individuals’ health information being compromised, he says.

In this video interview, Coleman also discusses:

• Security challenges involving legacy systems, running outdated software;
• Healthcare supply chain security concerns;
• Promising security technologies not yet being fully used by the healthcare sector.

At the National Cyber Security Alliance, a nonprofit public-private partnership promoting cybersecurity and privacy education and awareness, Coleman is responsible for leading organizational growth; facilitating strategic partnerships and alliances with government, industry and nonprofits; and acting as the partnership's primary spokesperson. He has two decades of experience in cybersecurity posts at the White House, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the private sector.