Federal Manager's Daily Report

Federal agencies will be at growing risk of IT breaches as baby boom federal employees retire and are replaced by millennial generation employees who are less security-conscious in their IT practices, according to a report by the Forcepoint cybersecurity firm.

It said a survey revealed that the younger generation is more likely to engage in risky behaviors that “if left unaddressed can significantly jeopardize the security of the U.S. federal government’s IT systems.”

These include regular use of unprotected public wi-fi, sharing of passwords and “a belief that cybersecurity is solely the IT department’s responsibility,” it said. “Many millennials acknowledged they use personal devices for both work and play, with nearly a quarter downloading company files and third party apps to personal devices to increase productivity without notifying IT.

“In addition, while millennials claim to understand and use strong passwords, they also revealed they frequently use the same password for multiple systems and apps and share them with others even after having personally experienced a breach.”

The company also surveyed some federal security officers and discovered that some reactive steps already are underway, including “re-tooling security awareness programs that emphasize secure productivity, to help employees recognize the dangerous trade-offs of circumventing policies” and updating “bring your own device” programs to allow agencies to better monitor what is being done on those devices.