Relationships Key to Tennessee’s Whole-of-State Cybersecurity
Given dwindling federal support for state and local cybersecurity, CIO Kristin Darby said that building relationships across agencies and partnering on training will be essential if and when an incident occurs.
Federal funding for state and local cybersecurity efforts is less robust than it was a year ago. The Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) ended its free cybersecurity support to state, local, tribal and territorial governments at the end of September and has moved to a paid membership model. But at last week’s National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Annual Conference in Denver, Tennessee CIO Kristin Darby said her organization remains committed to supporting state agencies as well as cities and counties.
“What we’re doing is certainly monitoring the funding that’s available,” she told Government Technology, “but making sure that we continue to build the relationships, the awareness and the posture across the state that protects all agencies, and they understand how to reduce risk.”
Tennessee has a long-standing whole-of-state approach to cybersecurity, and those relationships, Darby said, are what is going to keep Tennessee fortified against attacks going forward. She pointed to cross-agency scenario testing and working with the Tennessee National Guard as efforts that will help with both cyber mitigation and response.
Darby also mentioned forming “innovative partnerships” among agencies that can help make more cybersecurity resources available statewide.
Like many state CIOs, Darby noted that cybersecurity is an area that only continues to increase as a priority.
“With the evolving AI growth that’s occurring,” she said, “cyber continues to be an area of risk with new threat vectors at all times.”
Lauren Kinkade is the managing editor for Government Technology magazine. She has a degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and more than 15 years’ experience in book and magazine publishing.
Nikki Davidson is a data reporter for <i>Government Technology</i>. She’s covered government and technology news as a video, newspaper, magazine and digital journalist for media outlets across the country. She’s based in Monterey, Calif.
