New cybersecurity plan released with best practices for cities

The State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) Planning Committee has recently released a comprehensive statewide strategic cybersecurity plan to meet new federal cybersecurity requirements. The report is designed to help local governments address gaps in readiness as well as provide best practices, standards, and guidelines in cybersecurity governance, risk management, threat detection, and resource allocation. A big thanks to Dan Wordell from the City of Spokane, who has been serving as the AWC representative on the committee!

The state anticipates more than $3 million in grant funding in the coming year from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to address cybersecurity risks and threats to information systems owned or operated by state and local governments. Cities interested in accessing this funding should contact Jacqueline Chang, Program Manager, Washington State Military Department Emergency Management Division, for additional information.

This is a great time for cities to assess baseline security measures currently in place. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has helpful resources including:

• Web Application Scanning – an internet scanning service that can assess the “health” of web applications by checking for vulnerabilities and weak configurations and provide recommendations to enhance security.
• Vulnerability Scanning – evaluates external network presence by executing continuous scans of public, static IPs for accessible services and vulnerabilities and provides weekly vulnerability reports and ad-hoc alerts.

For more information, check out the WaTech State & Local Cybersecurity Grant Program website.