Private, government experts wary about cybersecurity

A new survey finds that while more than 90 percent of private and public sector security experts say cyber attacks pose a serious threat, they differ on whether each side is doing enough to protect their networks.

The poll, released Saturday before the start of a worldwide cybersecurity summit in Dallas, found that 70 percent of government officials surveyed said private-sector networks were not secure enough, while only 39 percent of private sector security officials surveyed believed government networks were not secure enough.

The poll, conducted April 19-26 for the nonpartisan think tank the EastWest Institute, surveyed 137 security experts, 34 government officials and 103 private sector security experts from the United States as well as China, India, Russia and other countries.

"These results point to an urgent need to build trust, not only between countries but also between governments and businesses on a global level," EastWest Institute President and CEO John Edwin Mroz said in a statement.

As more Internet users migrate to the Web to conduct banking, shopping and other transactions, the survey found that many security experts are still uncomfortable doing these types of tasks online. The survey found that 43 percent of business security experts and 19 percent of government officials are uncomfortable with doing online banking. The numbers were even higher when it comes to sending sensitive personal data over the Web such as your Social Security number, with 84 percent of the private sector officials and 69 percent of government officials reporting they were uncomfortable doing this.