6 Cybersecurity Questions City Managers Should Ask -- Before a Hack

The ICMA offers city managers a framework of cybersecurity questions for a cross-section spanning staff across the entire municipal government.

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According to experts from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), what you don’t see when it comes to cybersecurity is what can sink your local government operation.

That’s because cybersecurity is an organizational issue, not just one for IT. Addressing the issue needs to start at the top, according to ICMA. Their experts advise all city managers -- from small communities to the largest metros -- to gather a cross-section of operational staff and task them to answer these questions:

  1. What could go wrong? Brainstorm all possibilities.
  2. What would be the early warning signs? Identify as many warning signs as possible and understand if the organization has the ability to monitor them.
  3. What is the likelihood of this event or condition occurring? Consider your existing defenses to gauge threat awareness and readiness.
  4. What would be the impact if an event did occur? Walk through potential impacts to internal operations, external service delivery and anything that would affect the city’s reputation.
  5. How would you respond if it did occur? Identify the response resources required—time, money and people.
  6. What are you doing now that would minimize the impact or likelihood of this risk or condition if it did occur? Determine your organization’s current preparedness level and what needs to happen next.

Read the original story on the ICMA’s website.

Andrea Fox is Editor of Gov1.com and Senior Editor at Lexipol. She is based in Massachusetts.

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