Alaska's Strategy in the Fight Against Ransomware

In light of high-profile incidents this year in Atlanta, Colorado, Baltimore and elsewhere, ransomware has taken center stage as a real risk that state and local IT agencies must prepare for.

At the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Midyear Conference in April, IT leaders weighed in on how they are approaching the current wave of pervasive cyberthreats. Alaska Deputy CIO Dan DeBartolo (pictured above with CIO Bill Vajda, right) emphasized the importance his agency places on security in every initiative and product they roll out to try to prevent ransomware from getting into state systems.

DeBartolo noted that as CIOs and CISOs shift to account for these new kinds of attacks and evaluate vulnerabilities in their networks, they must take into account that some departments in their enterprise may not be adequately preparing for this new reality.

His advice: “Trust no one.”