An official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security made headlines in February by citing increasing threats of hacking faced by local governments – threats that local cities and school districts have been defending against for years, their officials say.
Jen Easterly, who heads Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said local governments around the nation have become increasingly vulnerable to ransomware and other digital threats. Water-treatment plants, hospitals, police departments and automated systems have been hit by hackers, with sometimes serious results, Easterly said.
Officials with the cities of Delaware and Powell, as well as the Delaware City Schools, Olentangy Schools and Delaware Area Career Center, say their cybersecurity efforts are well established and include training or awareness programs to reduce dangers.
Those efforts include a continuing focus on improving strategies against hacking, they said.
“Cybersecurity risks are an increasingly pressing problem,” said Delaware city spokesman Lee Yoakum. “Nobody is immune from these attacks, so the city of Delaware is focused on building our resilience. Some of those…
