McCrary Institute in the news with Jen Easterly, head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), sheds light on the vulnerabilities of local governments.

“As ransomware has made clear, everyone is a target and state and local governments face the full panoply of threats that the federal government does, from hostile nation-state actors to cyber criminals and everything in between,” said Frank Cilluffo, a former White House cyber and homeland security official. “And to the extent that the federal government is effectively outgunned and outmatched in this fight, the state and local level are all the more so.”

What is the new hacking threat? Is it reason for high cost defenses and who is leading the effort in protection? Cilluffo continues,

…in recent testimony before Congress that the challenges in getting local governments to adopt tougher cybersecurity measures will only get harder as time goes on.

“To make matters worse, the Internet of Things with all that it entails from smart cars to smart cities and beyond will expand the surface of attack by orders of magnitude,” said Cilluffo, a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Advisory Council under presidents Trump and Obama. He also directs the McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security at Auburn University.

Read the full article:
Local governments are more vulnerable to cyberattacks than ever before. DHS wants mayors to step up. – by Josh Meyer, USA Today