Rep. John Katko, R-N.Y., introduced the State and Local Government Cybersecurity Improvement Act on Aug. 30 to help state and local governments combat cyberattacks. The legislation comes in the wake of increasing ransomware attacks targeting state and local governments, including Katko’s own state.

The National Association of State Technology Directors (NASTD) announced its new leadership team for 2020 on Aug. 22, immediately following its Annual Conference and Technology Showcase.

texas

The Commonwealth of Texas has earned the dubious honor of being the latest state or local government hit by a successful ransomware attack. The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) confirmed on Aug. 16 that at least 23 local government entities were hit by a “coordinated” ransomware attack. DIR said it will lead the cybersecurity response to the attack.

Despite a downtick in number of states using paperless voting equipment since 2016, eight states are still expected to use paperless machines in the 2020 election, according to an Aug. 13 Brennan Center for Justice report.

Cybersecurity

The state and local government sector is seeing strong growth in the adoption of DMARC email authentication, but still lags far behind the Federal government and has much room to improve, according to a recent report from Valimail.

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