https://www.americancityandcounty.com/wp-content/themes/acc_child/assets/images/logo/footer-logo.png
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcast
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources & Events
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • Municipal Cost Index – Archive
    • Equipment Watch Page
    • American City & County Awards
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Statement
    • Terms of Service
American City and County
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Co-op Solutions
  • Hybrid Work
  • Commentaries
  • News
  • In-Depth
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Podcasts
    • Latest videos
    • Product Guides
  • Resources/Events
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers/eBooks
    • IWCE 2022
    • How to Contribute
    • American City & County Awards
    • Municipal Cost Index
    • Equipment Watch Page
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Stament
    • Terms of Service
  • newsletter
  • Administration
  • Economy & Finance
  • Procurement
  • Public Safety
  • Public Works & Utilities
  • Smart Cities & Technology
  • Magazine
acc.com

Administration


Pixabay

News

Ahead of election season, cybersecurity agency releases toolkit to help secure local systems

Ahead of election season, cybersecurity agency releases toolkit to help secure local systems

  • Written by Andy Castillo
  • 23rd August 2022

As summer draws to an end, another season, which can be just as blisteringly hot at times, is heating up: Election season. Besides the steady drumbeat of headlines that accompany election cycles, voting presents an emerging annual challenge for administrators as systems move increasingly closer to the digital realm, and as cyberattacks become more commonplace.

“Each day, state and local election officials confront threats to their infrastructure from foreign interference, nefarious actors, insider threats, and others,” said Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, in a statement highlighting a new cybersecurity toolkit launched by the federal organization. It’s intended “to help them in their ongoing efforts to ensure American elections remain secure and resilient.”

The resource, “Protecting U.S. Elections: A CISA Cybersecurity Toolkit,” is designed by the cybersecurity agency as a “one-stop catalog of free services and tools available for state and local election officials” as they prepare for election season, to “improve the cybersecurity and resilience of their infrastructure.”

It was developed through CISA’s Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative, a collection of public and private organizations that was created as a way to drive collective action across the cybersecurity community. The partnership that worked on this initiative included officials in the election community. 

For ease of use, the toolkit is organized into a few categories to help election officials assess their risk, find tools related to protecting voter information, websites, email systems, and networks; and protect assets against phishing, ransomware, and other types of attacks.

According to CISA, cybercriminals might in coming months try to compromise or manipulate electronic poll books and voter registration databases to try and cause confusion or delay voting on Election Day. Websites for state and local governments could also be targeted by phishing or ransomware attacks. Other potential targets include email systems and networks, targeted using phishing or malware to infiltrate local election networks that offices rely on for regular business functions.

A warning from the FBI’s cyber division to local governments earlier this year called on administrators to take the threat seriously.

“Ransomware attacks against local government entities and the subsequent impacts are especially significant due to the public’s dependency on critical utilities, emergency services, educational facilities, and other services overseen by local governments, making them attractive targets for cyber criminals,” reads a brief about the danger local governments face. “Victim incident reporting to the FBI between January and December 2021 indicated local government entities within the GFS (Government Facilities Sector) were the second highest victimized group behind academia.”

To safeguard systems, CISA recommends implementing the following before using the toolkit to address specific concerns: Scan systems with CISA’s Cyber Hygiene Services Vulnerability Scanning; update systems and software and prioritize remediating known exploited vulnerabilities; follow password best practices like multifactor authentication enforcement; and regularly make offline backups of data.

Tags: homepage-featured-1 homepage-featured-2 homepage-featured-4 Administration Smart Cities & Technology Administration Smart Cities & Technology News

Most Recent


  • landslides
    Managing landslides along road corridors using remote sensing
    Maintaining roads is an optimization problem. Local officials must balance limited and sometimes shrinking budgets with the needs of their communities to have safe and reliable transportation systems. Unfortunately, the importance of a particular maintenance issue is often judged based on anecdotal information and complaints from the public rather than hard data. This approach is […]
  • resilience
    Report: Prioritizing neighborhood infill, expanding transit options increases neighborhood resilience
    With the threat of climate change looming, cities that prioritize neighborhood resilience and equity will be best equipped to withstand future challenges. Last week, the United States Conference of Mayors and the Wells Fargo Institute for Sustainable Finance released a report highlighting strategies for communities looking to address the impact of the climate crisis. “Mayors […]
  • recruit
    With a few strategies and tools, public procurement directors can recruit new, diverse staffers
    Yes, being a public purchasing professional is a much-coveted career that can have a big impact on a community, says Celeste Frye, principal and CEO of Public Works Partners, a WBE/DBE/SBE-certified urban planning and consulting firm. “From purchasing quality foods for school lunches or environmentally sustainable trucks for trash collection, procurement managers have a significant […]
  • Oakland launches smart loading zone program for commercial business at the curbside
    Across the United States, cities are launching app-based programs that give delivery drivers the ability to digitally book curbside space. Oakland, Calif. is the latest city to do so, having partnered with Populus to implement Smart Loading Zones that can be reserved remotely via GPS technology. “Demand for our very limited curb space has increased […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your American City and County account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • cyber
    Local governments stay vigilant to cyber threats when acquiring technology
  • Amid digitization of public infrastructure, cybersecurity is increasingly a challenge
  • security
    Note to cities: Watch out for security gaps and hidden expenses as you acquire new IT systems
  • document imaging
    Local governments find document imaging solutions through cooperative contracts

White papers


Modernizing government services for today’s resident expectations

24th January 2023

Preparing Your Community Now for the Next Generation of Older Adults

18th October 2022

Helping Government Fleets Achieve Their Goals

30th September 2022
view all

Webinars


How To: Evaluate Digital Government Service Delivery Technologies

23rd January 2023

Using Technology to Enhance Communications

29th November 2022

Learn the benefits of transforming and automating your Contract Management process

4th November 2022
view all

PODCAST


Young Leaders Episode 4 – Cyril Jefferson – City Councilman, High Point, North Carolina

13th October 2020

Young Leaders Episode 3 – Shannon Hardin – City Council President, Columbus, Ohio

27th July 2020

Young Leaders Episode 2 – Christian Williams – Development Services Planner, Goodyear, Ariz.

1st July 2020
view all

GALLERIES


Report: While remote work is causing offices to empty out, walkable cities are still in high demand

26th January 2023

10 American cities with a great downtown

24th January 2023

Miami leads the way in FT-Nikkei ranking of best U.S. cities for foreign companies

20th January 2023
view all

Twitter


AmerCityCounty

Report: While remote work is causing offices to empty out, walkable cities are still in high demand dlvr.it/ShVhBW

26th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Managing landslides along road corridors using remote sensing dlvr.it/ShTpL6

26th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Report: Prioritizing neighborhood infill, expanding transit options increases neighborhood resilience dlvr.it/ShRrFM

25th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

10 American cities with a great downtown dlvr.it/ShNxXH

24th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

With a few strategies and tools, public procurement directors can recruit new, diverse staffers dlvr.it/ShNnj4

24th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Oakland launches smart loading zone program for commercial unloading at the curbside dlvr.it/ShNkMg

24th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Modernizing government services for today’s resident expectations dlvr.it/ShNGq0

24th January 2023
AmerCityCounty

Report: Technology is evolving quickly, and the water and sewer sector needs to adapt dlvr.it/ShL0B5

23rd January 2023

Newsletters

Sign up for American City & County’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about local governments.

Resale Insights Dashboard

The Resale Insights Dashboard provides model-level data for the entire used equipment market to help you save time and money.

Municipal Cost Index

Updated monthly since 1978, our exclusive Municipal Cost Index shows the effects of inflation on the cost of providing municipal services

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital audience? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • IWCE’s Urgent Communications
  • IWCE Expo

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us

FOLLOW American City and County ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.