Tag: State

January 7, 2020

The website of the Texas Department of Agriculture was briefly defaced Tuesday morning and replaced with an image of Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian general who was killed last week in a U.S. airstrike. A group of hackers referring to themselves […]

December 9, 2019

State agencies’ data is increasingly at risk to ransomware attack, in part due to poor backup and recovery practices, according to findings from a new survey. Among state IT and agency leaders polled, 69% said it would take their agency […]

December 6, 2019

The $9 billion plan the Federal Communications Commission announced Wednesday to expand 5G coverage into rural areas was criticized Thursday by lawmakers and state officials who say there’s little economic or technical rationale for building 5G infrastructure in rural areas […]

December 5, 2019

Data is only useful if people can find it. With that in mind, technology officials in California are developing what they’re calling a “portal of portals,” a search tool that will provide the public a single authoritative source for locating […]

November 26, 2019

Emergency dispatchers directing first responders in the nation’s largest metropolitan areas will soon have another tool at their disposal, after the Federal Communications Commission voted to require more detailed location data from wireless providers. The new rules, adopted by the […]

November 21, 2019

The commander of the Louisiana National Guard’s cyber protection unit said Tuesday that the greatest threat to the state-government networks his team is tasked with protecting is that users still unknowingly clicking malicious links that activate attacks like ransomware. “There’s […]

November 20, 2019

A biennial technology plan published earlier this month by the Texas Department of Information Resources sets a goal of the state government moving past simply building interconnected networks of connected devices and toward a more mature, effective marketplace of digital […]

November 19, 2019

An attempted ransomware attack Monday prompted Louisiana officials to deactivate servers for numerous state agencies, including the office of Gov. John Bel Edwards, the state legislature, the Office of Motor Vehicles and the office of Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin. […]

November 15, 2019

Despite investing more than $300 million of state and federal funding to increase broadband connectivity over the last four years, New Mexico “lags behind” the rest of the nation in adoption due to a decentralized broadband governance structure, according to […]

November 8, 2019

Ransomware attacks are a favorite tactic among cybercriminals, and it’s easy to see why. The payouts can be big and fast. Two cities in Florida, for instance, paid almost $1 million this past summer after their computer systems were paralyzed […]

October 25, 2019

To get state employees interested in emerging cybersecurity techniques, state agencies are trying old games — like capture the flag — in cyber ranges that can simulate different cybersecurity scenarios. Bill Rowan, a vice president of federal sales at the […]

October 22, 2019

In May, Allan Liska, an intelligence analyst at the cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, published research that caught the attention of security analysts and government officials everywhere. It included a list of 169 different ransomware attacks against state and local governments […]

October 4, 2019

State governments are using data-driven analysis to make decisions more often than ever before, according to a survey released on Friday by the nonprofit organization Results for America. The group, which collaborated with Bloomberg Philanthropies in 2015 to create the […]

August 29, 2019

The practice of purchasing sustainable technology products is picking up steam in state and city IT offices around the country, sustainability advocates say, which is good news for the environment. Increasingly, technology leaders are stocking up on desktops, monitors, networking […]

August 26, 2019

National Guard units already play a large role in state governments’ cybersecurity activities, such as protecting election systems, but the threat of ransomware to cripple a state or city organization is a growing concern for uniformed personnel, the top military […]

August 8, 2019

States struggling to manage their large technology projects often face similar issues in assessing the risk, optimal contract length or quality assurance of potential new services. A handbook released this week by 18F, a civic innovation office within the General […]

July 16, 2019

More state governments need to start assembling plans for how they would deal with a widespread cyberattack, according to a new paper from the National Governors Association. Adopting a cyber disruption response plan, the organization found, is increasingly urgent for […]

July 9, 2019

Louisiana will soon permit autonomous semitrailer trucks on its public roads, following a bill that Gov. John Bel Edwards signed last month. It’s one of the first laws in any state to regulate self-driving commercial motor vehicles, a technology that […]

July 3, 2019

The National Governors Association announced Tuesday that it will work with officials in seven state and territorial governments to help them develop improved cybersecurity policies. Over the next six months, the seven governments will build strategies to address a range […]

July 2, 2019

The state of Georgia’s judicial system became the latest government victim of a ransomware attack last weekend that has disabled some of its digital services. The infection was first discovered Saturday during a routine scan on the servers of the […]