Security Needs for Local Departments
City governments are a valuable target for cyber attack as they collect and store large amounts of citizen data, and have a growing dependence on technology with limited IT resources. Furthermore, a city government comprises many different departments, all with varying cybersecurity resources and concerns. While all of these departments could likely find themselves at risk of an attack, some are more delicious targets for hackers than others, including law enforcement, emergency services, water and utilities and citizen services. WatchGuard’s robust portfolio offers security solutions to protect these city departments and the citizens they serve.
Election Hacking
Phishing attempts are becoming more and more prominent – in fact, 90% of cyber attacks start with a phish. Given the opportunity and phished credentials, hackers could break into online voter registration databases to steal personal information, change names and addresses, and create general mass confusion on Election Day. Even the most fastidious staff member can make a mistake, which is why WatchGuard DNSWatch enables you to not only protect against a hapless click, but also provide immediate training prompts to reinforce phishing awareness.
Visibility Across Decentralized Networks
State and local networks are often far more decentralized than federal networks, creating a great deal of risk. Because there is still a high level of interconnectivity between municipal and state networks, back and forth communications present many opportunities for cyber criminals to gain access to sensitive data. Visibility across all networks can be achieved with WatchGuard Dimension. This built-in tool, which comes standard with every WatchGuard Firebox® appliance, provides intuitive reporting methods that make it easier to communicate threat activity and remediation to senior government leaders and elected officials.
Updating Legacy Technology
Legacy solutions are easily one of the most prevalent factors impacting the efficacy of government networks today. Often this is a result of budgetary restrictions and limited staff – in fact, 80% of state governments say that funding is their top challenge in government information security. WatchGuard’s Total Security Suite provides the most complete package of unified security controls on the market today, all in one cost-effective and easy-to-deploy license.
42% of government officials have not performed a network security audit with the past 12 months
(State Scoop)
80% of state governments say that funding is their top challenge in government information security
(PowerDMS)
Four in ten state and local IT leaders say they lack the tools needed to identify and report cyber security vulnerabilities
(State Scoop)
49% of government agency security breaches are caused by a lack of user compliance
(Regulatory Cybersecurity)
Downloads & Resources
“I sleep easier knowing that I don’t need to be on top of – for example – the latest ransomware threat. It gives me great piece of mind, and really saves me a lot of time.”
Micah Macri, Manager,
Library IT Systems & Creative Technologies, Eastern Regional Libraries