Resilient state and local governments: Secure cloud platforms

State and local governments remain committed to building livable cities and a thriving business environment. Yet the ongoing global health pandemic means budgets are leaner and cost-cutting may be considered to help balance the shortfalls from tax and other revenue sources.

How should these organizations move forward? Can updating strategy and technology offset some of the cost-cutting measures and provide relief to workers and constituents?

Download the eBook: Resiliency for state and local governments facing economic challenges

Our 5-week blog post series reviews key areas state and local organizations should consider in order to ensure uninterrupted services to constituents despite a future that’s difficult to predict. This week, we’ll examine the cloud platform as an important step towards more secure data.

Consideration #2: Secure cloud platforms

States, cities, and other municipalities with legacy applications offer cybercriminals healthy targets for hacking, data breaches, and ransomware. The attacks on municipal institutions grew by 60% in 2019 over the previous year.

Moving to a cloud platform can give you peace of mind about the security of your data—wherever it resides.

GovLoop suggests that “to guarantee that legacy, modern and cloud-native applications can work synergistically, agencies need an effective cloud data management platform – a single, secure source for all data, whether that data is on-premises, in the cloud or at the edge. The platform should consolidate hardware and software components into a single software fabric that can run anywhere and scale as needed.”

But getting there requires some preparation. According to Forbes, “the first step to better cloud security is to assess the risk landscape and assume you have no security.” They also suggest these additional steps:

• Find a cloud provider that fits your business model
• Build a holistic rather than piecemeal cybersecurity architecture
• Remember to apply fundamentals, like firewalls, encryption, and endpoint security

And—all clouds are not equal. A secure, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) risk management-based program named FedRAMP has emerged as the standard-bearer. Cloud providers that have obtained FedRAMP approval can help states save time and money by not having to develop their own individual security assessment products.

If you’d like to learn more about securely moving to a cloud platform as part of building a resilient government, we invite you to download the eBook: “Resiliency for state and local governments facing economic challenges.”