Safety Through Digitalizing Critical Services

In 2019, John McCain established the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) to develop a consensus on how to best defend our communities from Cyber Security Attacks. Data security has been a top priority for local government leaders across the country for quite some time. Covid-19 has brought to light some major technology gaps in our day to day lives, which can be improved by implementing safe and secure, modern, true cloud technology solutions.

In June the CSC released a new white paper, “Cybersecurity Lessons from the Pandemic”. There is a systematic error with governments operating on significantly older technology. The lack of innovation across government software has become apparent for both citizens and employees. Many communities still do not allow citizens to make online payments, submit permits, or work remotely. Someone who can work from home would have to sign in through a VPN (Virtual Private Network) which has provided significant challenges and security risks.

The article (“Cybersecurity Lessons from the Pandemic”) goes on to talk about unforeseen challenges and how digitizing critical services is crucial.

“To survive future pandemics or catastrophic cyber incidents, the nation needs secure, remote access to reliable cloud services.”

Covid-19 is an eye-opening crisis which is pushing local government leaders into implementing more modern technology. The commission realizes that this is expensive in the short term but will have significant lasting effects. They are working with congress members and law makers on passing two major bills in support of this transformation. IF passed, the bills will offer $28 Billion for state and local IT cybersecurity. For more detail check out the legislation: the State and Local IT Modernization and Cybersecurity Act.

The cost of not making a change is even more significant. Jackson County, Georgia paid $400,000; Lake City, Florida $500,000; Riviera Beach, Florida $600,000, and Atlanta spent nearly $2.6 million to recover from their attack (top 5 ransomware attacks globally).

It is not a question of IF modern technology will be implemented in your city, county, town, or state – the question is WHEN. As an organization born in the cloud, GovSense understands change is hard, our team has helped communities of all sizes make the transition. How can we best help you?