Cybersecurity

In a bill recently sent to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, state lawmakers have proposed increasing the state’s cybersecurity by creating a dedicated council and better defining the role of the Office of Information Technology.

A ransomware incident from November 2020 canceled two days of online classes, delayed a major payroll project, took down an employee timekeeping program, and may wind up costing the district over $8 million in the end.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives sought to understand why Colonial Pipeline paid ransom to DarkSide and how government can work with or regulate the private sector to prevent another crippling cyber attack.

On May 28, hackers targeted St. Clair County, Ill., disabling many digital services. While the county has since restored 90 percent of the services, it hasn't commented on the source of the attack.

A cyber attack on the NYC Law Department has prevented lawsuits about the NYPD's handling of 2020 protests from moving forward. The city has dodged questions about whether it uses multifactor authentication.

Union Community School District is investigating a cyber incident from April in which an intruder accessed private data. The district notified law enforcement and is reviewing which documents may have been exposed.

Last August, Iowa's power grid was devastated by a line of tremendous storms. Experts say the time is now for the state to prepare for another weather catastrophe — and for potential cyber attacks.

With the cybersecurity mishaps of the 2016 presidential election in mind, Rhode Island lawmakers have proposed a bill to do a cybersecurity assessment of its election systems to prevent future cyber attacks.

After a string of high-profile cyber attacks against U.S. companies, lawmakers argue that companies should more openly share information with government agencies when they pay a ransom demand.

Those working to define 5G standards have an opportunity to fix security weaknesses discovered in 4G. They also must tackle the distinct risk landscape presented by next-gen network’s open architecture.

The Public Infrastructure Security Cyber Education System (PISCES) works with colleges and universities to allow cybersecurity students to monitor real web traffic from government organizations and report threats.

Hackers gained entry into the networks of Colonial Pipeline Co. on April 29 through a virtual private network account, which allowed employees to remotely access the company’s computer network.

Laurie R. Doran has been appointed to lead the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, the governor announced Friday. The agency oversees counterterrorism and cybersecurity work.

North Carolina’s first-ever chief risk officer has departed for the private sector after six years in the role. Former deputy chief risk officer Rob Main will temporarily step into the role.

Funded by an $8 million, four-year federal grant, the inaugural WorkForces program through the Georgia Cyber Center aims to give marketable job skills in high-demand careers to those who lost jobs during the pandemic.

After surveying close to 400 K-12 districts across the U.S., the Consortium for School Networking found widespread concerns about IT staffing and cybersecurity given the rapid adoption of technology in schools.

For about two years, the Anchorage Police Department in Alaska accidentally uploaded personal information of individuals involved in traffic accidents to LexisNexis. A system malfunction caused the leaks.

Some experts place at least partial blame on COVID-19 for the recent onslaught of cyber attacks on public and private entities. Between May 2020 and May 2021, the FBI saw complaints about cyber crime jump by 1 million.