According
to findings of a recent survey conducted by Deloitte and the National
Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), “State Governments at
risk: A Call to Secure Citizen Data and Inspire Public Trust,” state
governments, as custodians of the most comprehensive collection of citizens’
Personally Identifiable Information (PII), must make cybersecurity a top
priority. The study finds that many state Chief Information Security Officers
(CISOs) lack the funding, programs and resources to adequately protect vital
government data and the personal information of their constituents, especially
when compared to their counterparts in private sector enterprises. “Many state
CISOs lack the visibility and authority to effectively drive security down to
the individual agency level,” said the director, Deloitte & Touche LLP and
leader of state government security and privacy services. “At the federal
level, the President has recognized the critical nature of the problem and
appointed a cybersecurity coordinator to address it; it’s imperative that
governors and state legislative leaders make cybersecurity a priority.”
“Unprecedented budgetary cuts across state governments and growing reliance on
contractors and outsourced IT services are creating an environment that is even
harder to secure,” said the president of NASCIO and CIO for Utah. The study is
based on a survey responses from 49 of the 50 states.
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