Gov. John Bel Edwards, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Raytheon CEO Thomas Kennedy together wrote an opinion piece for FoxNews.com and The Hill, highlighting the role states have in protecting the digital infrastructure from cyber threats.
“States are on the front lines of our collective response to the cyber threat,” the three wrote. “Governors are responsible for protecting some of the most critical pieces of digital infrastructure, as well as troves of sensitive data. These can include vital records, voter information, industrial control systems that manage dams and power grids, transportation networks, public health information, building blueprints and emergency preparedness plans, to name just a few.”
The average cost of a data breach is now $3.9 million, according to IBM. Last year, a ransomware attack in Colorado took 2,000 Department of Transportation computers offline and led to the first gubernatorially declared state of emergency in the country resulting from a cyber incident, they write in the piece. With the growth of the Internet of Things, cyber intrusions have exponentially more potential to wreak havoc in the physical world.
The piece ends with a call to action of sorts, stating that all of the United States must “work collectively to stay ahead of a fast-moving threat.”
