Indiana moves to bolster cybersecurity protections

Indiana officials have been seeking to strengthen the cybersecurity defenses of its government agencies and businesses amid the nearly twofold growth of ransomware attack prevalence across the U.S. last year, as well as the mounting threat of Russian cyberattacks, WXIN reports. "This is a very real situation, and if not addressed properly and timely, it could be crippling to an organization," said Gary Mayor Jerome Prince, who had dealt with a cyberattack that hit all his city's agencies.Indiana Cybersecurity Program Director Chetrice Mosley-Romero noted that with local governments being an attractive target of cyberattacks, the state has launched an online cyber preparedness campaign for its residents. Cybersecurity education is also being conducted by the Indiana Office of Technology and Indiana Department of Homeland Security, according to IOT Communications Director Graig Lubsen. "IOT offers domains, websites, an email and office productivity suite, hardware purchasing and cybersecurity training, etc. So far, 60 local governments are using state-built website templates, which come with all the security, accessibility and user-centered design of the state government websites," Lubsen added.