Cyber attacks, including data breaches and hacking, are increasingly common. Cybersecurity is a costly and evolving field where law enforcement and government officials compete against skilled criminals who use technology to cause disruption and chaos.
These crimes aren’t limited to large cities and large companies in
international financial centers. On April 19, OCH Regional Medical
Center made public what they called a “recent” (?) data breach that on
Sept. 6, 2023 exposed what they first said was “as many
as 67,000 files.”
That figure was later amended to reflect that “unauthorized individuals
gained access to 51,266 files in OCH’s possession” and that the breach
wasn’t discovered until Sept. 14, 2023. The hospital reported on their
website: “Following a thorough and ongoing
investigation, it was determined that the unauthorized party may have
accessed certain patient records, which could include information such
as name, Social Security number, date of birth, phone number, address,
diagnosis, disability code, account number,
and insurance and payer information.”
The point here is not to skewer OCH but to clearly point out that we are
all susceptible to cybersecurity attacks and that well-meaning
business, governmental, and even sometimes military officials struggle
to stay ahead of the criminals.
The expense of cybersecurity is exorbitant and growing. Total spending
for U.S. government, military, and private sector cybersecurity efforts
for the current fiscal year is estimated to be around $27.5 billion.
Global spending on cybersecurity is forecast
to increase to $377 billion annually by 2028.
On March 19, President Donald Trump issued an executive order that
shifted some of the responsibility from the federal government to states
and localities to improve their infrastructure to address risks,
including cybercrimes. Federal cuts have also reduced
resources for state and local officials, including a cybersecurity
grant program.
Mississippi, unlike some 22 states, is deemed prepared for these changes
structurally and is surprisingly well-regarded nationally in terms of
cybersecurity planning and infrastructure.
The Mississippi Cyber Initiative was established in 2021 to position the
state as a leader in the field and identify cyber issues as a
stabilizing force in the state’s existing economy as a jobs creator for
the state’s future economic development particularly
on the state’s Gulf Coast region.
Implementing partners were Mississippi State University, Keesler Air
Force Base, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, University of
Southern Mississippi and the Mississippi National Guard. Academic
partners included MSU, USM MGCCC, Mississippi College,
Jackson State University, Tougaloo College, Ole Miss, Delta State, East
Mississippi CC, and Holmes CC.
State partners include the State Department of Education, Miss. Gaming
Commission, Miss. Dept. of Public Safety, Miss. Emergency Management
Agency, the Miss. Attorney General’s Office, the Miss. National Guard,
and the State Dept. of Information Technology
Services. Federal partners include the U.S. Dept. of Justice, the Dept.
of Homeland Security, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Naval Construction
Battalion Center in Gulfport, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In 2023, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety established that
the Mississippi Cyber Unit, a component of the Mississippi Office of
Homeland Security, would be the state’s centralized cybersecurity threat
information, mitigation and incident reporting
and response center.
In January, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves and MSU President Mark Keenum
headlined the official signing of agreements officially launching
construction of a 100,000-square-foot building on Keesler Air Force Base
that serves as the headquarters for the MSU-led
Mississippi Center for Cyber & Technology to enhance state and
federal cybersecurity capabilities. The state-of-the-art facility and
collaborations that will support community and military needs as well.
“The Mississippi Cyber and Technology Center will fortify and strengthen
Keesler’s mission and the Gulf Coast’s status as a national hub for
cybersecurity expertise through training, research and outreach,” Keenum
said. “It’s the perfect example of the power
of partnerships and what we can accomplish by working together.”
Reeves shares Keenum’s vision: “The Cyber Center will strengthen
Keesler’s mission to train cyber warriors, and it will serve as a hub
for academic achievement and economic development for cyber, artificial
intelligence, machine learning, and other technology
companies and agencies. In short, the future is here in Mississippi.”
Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com
5 comments:
Good luck! Mississippians are notoriously ignorant hayseeds who fall victim to online scams at a higher rate than any other state in the USA! You can layer firewalls, MFA, and all manner of cybersecurity. But it wont be enough to stop some dumb hick from opening an email from microsoft.admin@gmail.com, then clicking a link, signing in with the M365 account, and handing their AUTH token over to someone in a turd world shithole.
This is because we got rid of Jeff and Tina from Cyber Awareness.
From whose talking points memo was this cobbled together? Sid is The Great Regurgitator, with nothing of his own to contribute.
9:14 - I'd like to see some numbers to back up your claim. Besides, we as admins are tasked with protecting our end-users from themselves. "handing over their AUTH token" usually comes into play through social engineering and threat actors but those assholes prey on everyone in the world. As far as the rest of your argument, EDR and URL redirection usually handle those kinds of problems. These technologies aren't hard to leverage and maintain and are more effective than one might think.
I trust the Trump administration for whatever federal role will be a part of this. We now know the Biden admin was only about open borders, DEI, and raking out secret cash for thousands of shady characters and favored organizations.
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