Governments are vulnerable to cybersecurity breeches. In this way, they don’t vary much from private-sector businesses, whose sometimes spectacular cybersecurity failings grab headlines. So, as a government with limited resources, how do you prepare for the inevitability of some bad actor trying to access sensitive information?
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Today marks the beginning of October, a month dedicated to the awareness of cybersecurity—a distinction bestowed to October way back in 2003. Here in 2018, 2003 seems light-years away—a dim and distant past when our cybersecurity concerns centered around malicious actors gaining access to our MySpace accounts or Nigerian princes conning us out of our bank account information from the seemingly secure space of a Yahoo email account. How quaint those concerns seem against the undermining of American democracy, a target of some of today’s cybercriminals.
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Our Office is dedicated to helping local and state governments across Washington avoid the potentially devastating effects of cybersecurity attacks. Much of the public data governments hold is sensitive in nature, and needs to be carefully guarded.
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Photo courtesy of the Washington Army National Guard
In early July, our Senior IT Security Specialist Sunia (Lulu) Laulile (pictured)participated in the International Collegiate Cyber Defense Invitational at Highline College in Des Moines, Washington. In this exercise, Lulu’s team attacked the systems the students were defending. You can read more about this event on the Washington Army National Guard’s blog.
Principal Performance Auditor Erin Laska was featured last week on TVW, highlighting the continued need for cyber security protection of the sensitive public data the state stewards. At the Office of the Washington State Auditor, we take safeguarding the public’s data from those who would seek to exploit it seriously. That’s why we regularly evaluate both state (see our most recent performance audit here) and local government cybersecurity controls for weakness, as well as make practical recommendations to help governments in Washington solve their cybersecurity challenges.
… CONTINUE READING → As local governments in Washington and across the United States deal with increasingly sophisticated attacks aimed at bringing down vital government services residents depend on, the need for careful controls and cyber security measures grows ever more crucial. At the Office of the Washington State Auditor, one of the resources we provide local governments with is helping them increase their cyber security in anticipation of just such events as outlined in the New York Times below. Are you interested in learning more about how we can help? Click here to read cyber security resources.
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Did you know that the State Auditor offers free, in-depth evaluations of local government’s cybersecurity systems? In an article published today, the Pew Charitable Trust details the cutting-edge role the Washington State Auditor has in ensuring the IT system security of local governments around the state.
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As state and local governments increasingly depend on information technology (IT) systems to serve the public, the need to audit the controls in and around these systems increases.
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From our friends at MRSC: Mike Kaser, IS Director for the City of Mercer Island, weighs in on protecting local governments from cyber attack. You can read the original here.
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We are excited to announce that for the first time in the history of the National State Auditor’s Association (NSAA) IT Conference, Washington is the host state!
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