State and local government leaders encounter new buzzwords and tech jargon every day. In The Lightning Round, a new webinar series from Government Technology, we’re explaining these emerging concepts and demystifying gov tech one buzzword at a time. In this episode, we’re looking at SASE security, which stands for "secure access service edge." What does it mean for state and local governments? How should agency leaders implement a...

Information security teams are responsible for detecting, analyzing and defending against malign influence and outside interference from foreign bad actors. But most of their current analytic frameworks are either oversimplified or overcomplicated. To keep up with the evolving threat of influence operations, security teams must monitor emerging tactics and develop effective countermeasures. The Diamond Model for Influence Operations is a meth...

To keep pace with today’s dynamic and increasingly sophisticated cyber threat environment, State and Local governments must take decisive steps to modernize their approach to cybersecurity, adopting security best practices. The federal government has launched a first-of-its-kind cybersecurity grant program specifically for state, local, and territorial governments across the country. On November 1 at 11 a.m. Pacific/2 p.m. Eastern., joi...

Government agencies are increasingly adopting software-as-a-service (SaaS) and other as-a-service models to modernize service delivery and increase efficiency. Cybercriminals are too. With ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) tools, bad actors can use already-developed ransomware methods to execute attacks that are smarter, faster and more sophisticated. As concerns about ransomware attacks have grown tremendously in recent months, RaaS tools make...

More than ever, state and local governments are experiencing a strong sense of urgency to provide the best constituent experiences, update internal operations and enhance security. For agencies focusing on big-picture improvements, modernization is the answer. While today’s IT teams worry about every aspect of an agency’s operations, robust solutions exist to help ease the burden. Strategic investments can help governments move to...

Local and state governments have many endpoints and networks to manage and protect, but their operations come under increased threat of cyberattacks as the levels of security across departments become fragmented. Creating a fully integrated approach improves visibility and cohesion among branches of an agency, allowing them to take a proactive stance when it comes to mitigating risks. Seeing across silos on this matter strengthens an organizat...

Efforts to breach U.S. voting systems and influence election outcomes by state-sponsored, criminal and malicious insider actors are only growing in sophistication. More than ever, local and state government agencies must be able to rely on dynamic, full-spectrum security solutions that protect the entire election process and those who work to preserve outcomes. A phased approach is required to ensure risks are fully mitigated before, during an...

State and local governments lose billions of dollars a year through fraudulent claims and abuse of government services and benefits. Efforts to fight fraud often focus on combatting external threats, ignoring the very real threat of internal fraud. While this has always been a challenge for state and local governments, significant amounts of new federal funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and other pandemic relief...

Without a strong security posture, local and state governments are at risk of costly disasters prompted by user errors, natural disasters and malicious attacks. Keeping data safe when the threats are numerous and coming from all directions creates a burden for agencies as they seek out solutions that cover all their bases. As compute environments grow in complexity, it’s critical for agencies to focus on their resilience strategies. The...

Today’s sophisticated threat environment targets end users by duplicating the relevant content they’re used to interacting with or interested in learning about. With email scams taking advantage of everyday requests and current events, these attacks are no longer obvious examples of malicious activity. Increased visibility into an environment is necessary for local and state governments to efficiently protect their systems. These i...