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Lucas Ropek

Staff Writer

Lucas Ropek is a former staff writer for Government Technology.

People and Careers

Missouri CIO Mike Cheles Announces Retirement Date

After announcing he planned to retire earlier this year, the CIO will log his final day in the service of the state Monday, Dec. 16. Cheles said there are rumors the state is nearing a decision on who will be replacing him.

December 11, 2019
· Lucas Ropek
Cybersecurity

Pensacola, Fla. Cyberattack Is Ransomware, Officials Confirm

The nature of the attack, which forced the Florida city to disconnect its entire network, is now confirmed. City officials say other details are pending as investigators look into the extent and source of the disruption.

December 10, 2019
· Lucas Ropek
Analytics

Pasadena, Calif., Uses Fiber Network to Monitor Earthquakes

The city has entered into a five-year partnership with Caltech, which will use an innovative new research field to collect mountains of data on earthquake activity for public safety applications.

December 10, 2019
· Lucas Ropek
Justice & Public Safety

Pensacola, Fla., Site of Recent Shooting, Hit by Cyberattack

Hours after a gunman opened fire at the city's U.S. naval base, hackers crippled large parts of its network and incapacitated a number of services. The mayor has said it is unclear if the two events are related.

December 09, 2019
· Lucas Ropek
Cloud & Computing

Michigan Network Outage Was Not a Cyberattack, Officials Say

While officials initially feared that the problems could be the result of a cyberattack, the source of the problems was swiftly discovered to be an internal maintenance issue.

December 05, 2019
· Lucas Ropek
People and Careers

After Several Interim Leaders, Alaska Has a Permanent CIO

After a turbulent period of leadership turnover, the state has appointed its first permanent chief IT officer since 2018. Bill Smith, a career military professional, has stepped in to lead the Office of Information Technology.

November 26, 2019
· Lucas Ropek
Cybersecurity

Louisiana IT Official: Ransomware Attack ‘Not Catastrophic’

During a last-minute hearing Friday, the Louisiana Deputy CIO Neal Underwood revealed that last week's ransomware attack was the largest one to impact the state, but he stopped short of calling the attack catastrophic.

November 25, 2019
· Lucas Ropek
People and Careers

New Maricopa County CISO Wants to Add Context to Cybersecurity

Lester Godsey brings more than two decades of experience in IT and cybersecurity to the Arizona county. He hopes to translate that experience into new partnerships and, ultimately, results.

November 21, 2019
· Lucas Ropek
Cybersecurity

Unauthorized Download Led to Louisiana Ransomware Infection

Officials revealed to local media Wednesday that a minor security slip that led to the recent cyberincident. The state, while having mostly recovered, will need a few days for all services to be up and running.

November 20, 2019
· Lucas Ropek
Emerging Tech

New York City Creates Chief Algorithms Officer Position

The new position, which will operate out of Mayor Bill de Blasio's office, will lead the development of guidelines and best practices surrounding the use of algorithm-based tools by city agencies.

November 19, 2019
· Lucas Ropek