Nearly a third of Mississippi state agencies do not meet cybersecurity assessment requirements, the state’s Office of the State Auditor warned in a recent report, saying the gaps leave critical operations at risk. 

The government shutdown and Congress’s failure to reauthorize the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA 15) have put cyber defenses at risk, cybersecurity experts are warning, saying the pressure is now on state and local governments and industry members.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is awarding over $3.3 million in cooperative agreements to educational and community organizations to build the nation’s dwindling cyber workforce.

Nine state and local government organizations are asking congressional leadership to reauthorize the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP), warning that without continued funding through the program, security systems across the nation will falter. 

Melvin Carter, the mayor of St. Paul, Minn., unveiled his 2026 budget proposal last week, which includes over $1 million to strengthen the city’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond to cybersecurity threats.

As federal support for K-12 cybersecurity dwindles, a new Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) report reveals state lawmakers are moving to fill the gap, with bipartisan efforts in five states reshaping how K-12 schools prepare for mounting cyber threats. 

The personal information, including names, dates of birth, addresses, and Social Security numbers of former students in a South Carolina school district, was posted online following a data breach. 

Several technology-focused associations representing state and local officials are urging congressional appropriators to reinstate Federal funding for the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), which they said is a vital cybersecurity coordination hub relied upon by governments across the country.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes issued a call on Aug. 12 for $13.5 million of new cybersecurity funding to help modernize and protect the state’s election infrastructure following a recent attempted cyberattack on his office’s candidate portal.

School districts throughout Ohio need to meet new cybersecurity requirements for the upcoming school year that cover responses to cyber incidents and ransom demands from attackers.