The Washington Post revealed on July 23rd that several local governments across the U.S. are using a Russian brand of security software that the federal government fears could be leveraged by the foreign country for cyberespionage.
In July, the federal government removed Kaspersky Lab, a Moscow-based company that sells anti-virus security software, from its list of approved vendors. Meanwhile, nearly all the local governments interviewed by the Post appeared unaware of the controversy. Upon learning about it, most said that they had no immediate plans to stop using the product.
The news is merely the latest development in an ongoing debate about whether local governments are doing enough to protect themselves from cyber threats.
Cybersecurity experts have long been sounding the alarm about local governments’ vulnerability to cyberattacks and the impact such an intrusion could have. They say most local governments face great barriers to protecting their data and systems, including lack of funding, shortage of cybersecurity professionals and general ignorance about the seriousness of the threat.
Keep reading this article at: http://www.governing.com/topics/mgmt/gov-local-governments-cybersecurity-kaspersky-russia.html
