A new study shows that government contractors as a group are less digitally secure than the federal agencies they’re contracting with.
Among federal contractors, those in the fields of health care, defense, and aerospace contractors demonstrated the best security, while engineering, technology, and manufacturing contractors came in last. But their average score was below the average score for the agencies they work for.
Contractors frequently manage sensitive data, including citizens’ personal information, on behalf of agencies. A 2014 breach of the contractor USIS, for example, compromised the security clearances of Homeland Security department employees. A hacker who gains a foothold in a contractor’s computer systems could also hop from there to federal networks.