South Dakota is one of two states that so far hasn’t applied for a federal cybersecurity grant meant to help state and local governments protect against outside attacks.
The information came to light Wednesday during a meeting of the Legislature’s Study Committee on County Funding and Services.
The panel’s chair, Republican Rep. Roger Chase, said he hopes the Noem administration would apply. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security rolled out the program in 2022.
“Cybersecurity was one of the things that was in our scope of study for counties,” Chase said. “I would challenge you to find a county in South Dakota that has a budget item for ransomware. It doesn’t exist.”
A February 14 online article identified Florida and South Dakota as the two that decided against applying.
Jim Edman, who had been state government’s chief information security officer, last year joined the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as a statewide coordinator. He told legislators Wednesday that businesses in South Dakota have suffered ransomware attacks. He said county governments in Wyoming and the Minneapolis school districts had also been attacked.
Republican Rep. Kirk Chaffee asked how county governments could better protect their data. Edman said they should have backup systems, provide training to employees, keep software current and limit user privileges.
“We call it basic cyber hygiene,” Edman said.
The committee heard presentations on a variety of other county expenses including road systems.
The first witness was Greg Vavra, who heads the Local Transportation Assistance Program at South Dakota State University. He showed how inflation has affected county road budgets.
“We’re not keeping up with our maintenance, especially at our mid-level counties,” Vavra said. He noted the effects can be felt in retaining and hiring workers, as well as the inability to take on large projects.
Source: keloland.com
Photo Credit: gettyimages-jimfeng
Categories: South Dakota, Government & Policy