In a recent article by Sarah Powazek and Marc Rogers, the urgent need for local, community-driven cybersecurity efforts is highlighted. Despite increased federal resources and strategies being implemented in recent years to improve nationwide cybersecurity, small and local organizations are regularly falling victim to common cyberattacks, impeding the delivery of critical services and affecting entire populations.
The authors explain that ultimately, federal intervention on its own will never be enough to address all cybercrime in every locality. This is where local organizations, specifically those in the academic, government, and volunteer sectors, can provide critical “boots on the ground” services and support directly to those at risk of cybercrime.
Academic institutions are uniquely positioned to serve as hubs of cyber defense, training the next generation of cybersecurity professionals and bringing core cyber skills and pro-bono cyber assessments to local organizations in need. Local governments and states are piloting innovative ways to provide state cyber aid, including the formation of cyber response corps and developing departments like the MassCyberCenter in Massachusetts and the Bay Area UASI in San Francisco. Volunteer organizations like the CTI League and CyberPeace Builders harness the insight of industry experts to act as a last line of defense, sharing threat information and attempting to notify potential ransomware victims.
Powazek and Rogers call for a collaborative, local approach to cyber defense, emphasizing that these programs can be beacons through which resources that often remain concentrated at the federal level can reach those who need them most. Such collaboration can act as a force multiplier for all the progress made at the federal level, arriving fast to the cybercrime scene and sticking around to ensure the ransomware victim has the support needed to recover.
In summary, while the federal government can do its part, it is local organizations that are best-positioned to serve their communities’ cyber defense needs. By prioritizing collaboration with local institutions and harmonizing strategies among government agencies, we can move the needle on cyber defense for all.
<< photo by Petter Lagson >>
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