State governments should put in place stronger cybersecurity measures to secure voter registration, driver’s license, and tax databases, according to the Feb. 27 cybersecurity panel.
Three-quarters of states have recently reported a data security breach, Will Pelgrin, chairman of the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, was quoted as saying by the Baltimore Sun.
Aizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who is co-chair of the NGA’s homeland security and public safety committee with O'Malley, said that state leaders have a responsibility to prevent secure information from "falling into the hands of those who would do us harm."
In January last year, O'Malley launched the CyberMaryland initiative as a way to promote businesses, academic institutions and government agencies that are involved in information security. Maryland has 250,000 technology sector jobs, O'Malley said.
Last week, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) called on the NGA to take action in beefing up cybersecurity.
“With 26 new administrations, it’s imperative that new governors and other state policy leaders be aware of the cybersecurity threats that states face on a daily basis”, said Kyle Schafer, NASCIO president and West Virginia CIO. “This call to action is meant to assist state leaders in understanding the threats and developing appropriate process and policy to mitigate risks.”