Cybersecurity

A new Ohio law is taking aim at what state election officials and legislators say is a growing threat — cyber attacks. Under SB 52, signed into law in October, an Ohio Cyber Reserve will be created as a division of the state National Guard. It will consist of cyber-security experts who can help deter and mitigate attacks. This force will work with local governments and businesses.

North Dakota is the first U.S. state to authorize a central, shared-service approach to cybersecurity across all parts of state government, says Gov. Doug Burgum, who signed SB 2110 into law in April. Legislators also invested more than $15 million in the new biennial budget to add more cybersecurity personnel and enhance protective software.

Cybersecurity has become a central issue for many state officials across the nation. In the past six months, Colorado, Connecticut and North Carolina have all been victims of cybercrime. In today’s world, where so many aspects of daily life depend on data sharing devices that communicate via the internet, state officials are trying to mitigate the damage that can be done by hackers. There is little uniformity among state cybersecurity strategies. However, three states have positioned themselves as...

On March 2, Congress proposed multiple bills focusing on helping states with the area of cybersecurity. One of these bills was the State Cyber Resiliency Act, which aims to establish a cybersecurity grant program that would provide resources for states to develop and implement effective cyber resiliency plans.

“Despite the velocity of the threat, 80% of states lack funding to develop sufficient cybersecurity,” said...