Cybersecurity

Gov. Charlie Baker has created the Cyber Incident Response Team in a Dec. 14 executive order. The group will be comprised of members from state government public safety and cybersecurity organizations.

The New Mexico state Regulation and Licensing Department has mailed letters informing customers of a cyber breach in October that potentially exposed personal information in about 225,000 accounts.

TikTok, the popular social video platform owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, has been banned on government-owned devices in several states for security concerns. The latest governors to ban it are in Michigan, Nevada and Arizona.

The international ransomware group LockBit claims to have stolen 76 gigabytes of data from the California Department of Finance. The data is said to include confidential and financial documents, and other sensitive information.

A survey by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers has identified the top priorities for state technology leaders for the coming year — and cybersecurity remains at the top of the list.

The university is complying with Gov. Kevin Stitt's executive order banning the TikTok app on government networks and government-issued devices, citing cybersecurity concerns and data collection by China.

A recent audit of the Cayuga County Health Department by the state comptroller’s office found that half of the devices assigned to personnel contained some form of sensitive personal data.

The Michigan-based company, whose founders also include former state CIO David Behen, launched in July and offers a FICO-like cyber score. The funding comes as governments get more aggressive about digital defenses.

Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a ban on the use of the popular social media platform on all government-issued devices. The move comes amid growing concern about the implications of the company’s ties to the Chinese government.

In its first year at Hickory High School in Pennsylvania, the Cyber Patriots program is teaching students about packet tracing, programming and other skills they can use at home or in future IT careers.

The city of Dallas has released a mobile app to help residents navigate potential threats to their smartphones. The tool blocks phishing texts, guards against malicious app downloads and warns against connecting to unsafe networks.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s annual data breach report shows the number of data breaches throughout 2022 at 4.5 million. The second largest after 2021 where 6.3 million breaches occurred.

Cyber incidents have hit state courts in Alaska, Georgia and Texas in recent years. Court leaders and CIOs at the NCSC eCourts conference this week shared what happened and what they learned from the experiences.

Like South Dakota, Maryland has now banned the use of the popular social media platform TikTok across executive branch agencies. Gov. Larry Hogan cited cybersecurity risks posed by the China-based company in an announcement Tuesday.

Nearly 1,700 state and local entities purchased tech targeted under the ban between 2015 and 2021. A new rule lets existing tools stay, but reduces future availability, potentially leading to costlier procurements in the name of national security.

Tech leaders keep talking about building cyber talent, so what can we learn from looking back at talented teams from the past in cybersecurity and basketball.

A new partnership between EPB and California-based Qubitekk will allow private companies, government and university researchers to test quantum equipment and applications in an established fiber-optic environment.

An audit report released this week determined that personal and confidential information of roughly 192,000 permit holders was left unprotected when the California Department of Justice exposed it earlier this year.