Massachusetts introduces committee to address cybersecurity

In an effort to coordinate a state response to cybercrime and manage information security, the state of Massachusetts has created the Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet and Cybersecurity.

The Committee held its first hearing on September 8, 2021. Committee members heard testimony from industry leaders including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Chief Information Officer Curtis Wood, Director of MassCyberCenter Stephanie Helm, and Daniel Prieto, Strategic Executive at Google Cloud, among others.

The Committee focused on developing cybersecurity strategies for both the public and private sector as well as plans to support individual citizens, highlighting the increased risk elderly citizens of Massachusetts face online. Prieto suggested modernizing information technology and investing in zero trust security principles.

"Public and private partnerships are absolutely going to be critical to our goal of establishing any resiliency," said Rep. Linda Dean Campbel, one of the committee chairs. "We really can encourage the development of an economic sector here in Massachusetts."

In today's rapidly evolving security landscape, organizations face an ever-growing array of disruptive events, security threats and risks. Traditional reactive approaches to security intelligence often leave businesses vulnerable and ill-prepared to anticipate and mitigate emerging threats that could impact the safety of their people, facilities or operations.

ON DEMAND: Apple Mac computer use is growing in the corporate space. Having the solutions and the knowledge base to respond to events that include Mac computers is just as important as their Windows counterparts.