Survey finds cybersecurity is top priority for US cities

An annual cybersecurity survey of city and county government technology leaders in the United States has found that 82% of them believe their governments have cybersecurity plans or strategies in place.

The survey, conducted by the Public Technology Institute (PTI) — part of the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) — interviewed 95 professionals who work for local governments of all sizes.

“We know cybersecurity is incredibly important to local tech leaders. This year we asked professionals on the front lines how the ongoing pandemic is affecting their operations, as well as how they are prioritising their spending on new technology and even cybersecurity initiatives,” said Dr Alan Shark, Executive Director of PTI.

The survey also found that 23% of those surveyed said their elected officials are actively engaged in cybersecurity efforts, while 54% said their elected officials were not engaged at all. Additionally, 78% of the tech executives said their governments have some sort of cyber insurance.

The survey revealed that 66% of respondents believe they do not have adequate financial support from city or county budgets to fund cybersecurity budgets. The majority (54%) of tech leaders said their governments maintain a formal incident response and disaster recovery plan.

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