Help could be on the way for state and local governments grappling with defending against cyber attacks, in the form of bipartisan legislation introduced in the House and Senate that would authorize the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to operate a grant program for states looking to implement better cybersecurity and recovery measures.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today released a series of exchanges from December 2016 to February 2017 between the department and members of Congress revealing Sen. Brian Kemp’s, R-Ga., accusation that DHS conducted unauthorized scans of Georgia’s Secretary of State networks and DHS’s denial of the accusation.

Missouri University of Science and Technology (S&T) has pioneered a graduate school program that emphasizes data science, cyber-physical, and cybersecurity research – particularly on the front of cloud computing – to a degree that has earned it Federal recognition.

ODNI, DoJ, FBI, DHS Declare Election Interference ‘Top Priority’

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Facebook, and Microsoft hosted a joint briefing on Friday, Aug. 24, for the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) and the National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) regarding “actions being taken to combat malicious interference operations.”

The Department of Homeland Security on Aug. 13-15 hosted “Tabletop the Vote 2018: DHS’ National Election Cyber Exercise,” inviting vendors and Federal, state and local election officials to participate in election security preparation. The three-day event offered a scenario based on real-world events and risks.

A report issued May 31 by the New America Foundation’s Cybersecurity Initiative recommends that the Federal government consider three “priority efforts” to help state governments advance their own efforts to improve cybersecurity, including “designating specific cybersecurity funding that is linked to national priorities.”

Of all the concerns keeping Governors’ Homeland Security Advisors up at night, cybersecurity ranks top of the list.

The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) rare public alert last week about a large-scale Russian cyber campaign targeting U.S. infrastructure raised a piercing alarm about vulnerabilities in the nation’s power grid, and underscored what officials have meant when talking about the need for a whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approach to cyber defense.