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Results for: CyberSecurity

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Don’t miss this upcoming free webinar “Cybersecurity Essentials for Local Government Leaders!”

October 11, 2018

Presented by the Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC) and sponsored by the State Auditor’s Office Performance Center, this webinar is for elected officials, managers, information technology and other staff working to keep electronic systems safe from outside interference. Share this information with your co-workers and elected officials in order to get the most out of this opportunity!

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Recent GAO report underscores the need for cybersecurity auditing

October 10, 2018

The federal counterpart to the Office of the Washington State Auditor, the Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on Tuesday demonstrating the vitally important role of cybersecurity auditing in the information age. Vulnerabilities in government systems can be exploited by criminals looking to harm the public, as detailed in the GAO’s audit findings.

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Keeping elections safe, one audit at a time

October 1, 2018

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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When it comes to cybersecurity experts, our Office boasts some of the best

July 16, 2018

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.

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Keeping your private data safe: cybersecurity for government

April 24, 2018

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.

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Local governments remain vulnerable to cyber attack: repost from the New York Times

March 29, 2018

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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