BCS - Shortcomings in the methods employed by governments to monitor their IT networks and protect against cyber criminals could lead to increased tensions between nations as speculation grows over the source of specific attacks. According to Ross Brewer, vice president and managing director of international markets at LogRhythm, the inability of governments to quickly and correctly identify the perpetrators of cyber attacks against its networks can lead to finger-pointing, which could have a negative effect on political relations between countries. Writing for SC Magazine, Mr Brewer says governments need to adopt new policies centred on the "continuous monitoring of IT networks" in order to enable "deep forensic analysis of growing amounts of data". This way, "cyber attacks [can] be effectively mitigated and accurately attributed", removing the possibility of politicians wrongly accusing rival nations when attacks occur. In order to achieve this, governments may have to adopt Big Data analytics, rather than continuing with simple "perimeter defences".