No matter the size, most municipalities nationwide face budget constraints that offer little wiggle room for enhancing and improving cybersecurity. For city leaders, including mayors, police and fire chiefs, and city managers, allocating additional funds for cybersecurity must be weighed carefully against other pressing needs. Spending more in one column means there’s less for another, and with the scrutiny municipal budgets receive, it can be hard to increase investments in cybersecurity.
Fortunately, there are cost-effective resources available to municipalities that can help overcome these hurdles. Here are some resources to consider:
Open-Source Security Tools
Snort – An open-source network intrusion detection and prevention system, Snort is designed to detect suspicious network traffic, including network-based attacks, malware, and unauthorized access attempts. It compares network packets against a predefined set of rules or signatures.
OpenVAS – A vulnerability scanning and management framework, OpenVAS is a vulnerability scanner with unauthenticated and authenticated testing capabilities and powerful internal programming language to implement any vulnerability test.
OSSEC – An open-source host-based intrusion detection and prevention system, OSSEC has a robust correlation and analysis engine. It integrates log analysis, file integrity monitoring, Windows registry monitoring, and centralized policy enforcement.
Security Onion – A free and open platform for threat hunting, network security, monitoring, and log management.
Federal Government Sites
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency – CISA provides various cybersecurity resources, guidance, and tools for government entities, including municipalities.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology – NIST offers a framework that provides guidelines, best practices, and standards for managing and enhancing cybersecurity.
Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Centers – MS-ISAC offers free cybersecurity resources, alerts, and information sharing for state, local, tribal, and territorial government entities.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity Resources – DHS provides a wide range of cybersecurity resources such as tools, guidelines, and training materials that can benefit municipalities.
National Cybersecurity Awareness Month – NCSAM is observed every October and is a collaborative effort between government and industry to raise awareness about cybersecurity. It provides free resources, tip sheets, and educational materials that cities can utilize.
Grants
The State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program – SLCGP funds state, local and tribal governments to address cybersecurity risks and threats.
Training
SysAdmin, Audit, Network Security – SANs is a cooperative research and education organization specializing in cybersecurity training, certification, and research.
Audits and Assessments
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cyber Resilience Review – Free of charge to local governments, these assessments evaluate an organization’s cybersecurity capabilities and recommend improving resilience against cyber threats.
Other Resources, Tools
StopRansomware.gov – A centralized federal government resource to help public and private organizations understand the ransomware threat, mitigate risk, and what steps to take if an attack occurs.
National Cyber Awareness System Tips – Offers ongoing information on threats, hoaxes, and safety.
Telework Essentials Toolkit (2020) – Provides best practices and links to resources to help an organization transition to a secure, permanent telework environment.
Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center – MS-ISACC is a resource for state, local and tribal government information sharing, early warnings and alerts, mitigation strategies, training, and exercises.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Computer Security Resource Center – This center provides information security tools and practices, acts as a resource for information security standards and guidelines, and identifies vital security web resources.
IT Security News Blast. This website curates the top news stories in cybersecurity, including the latest breaches, ransomware, and security alerts.
Matrix and Municipalities: A Winning Combination
A cost-effective platform, Matrix provides an additional layer of protection designed to prevent unauthorized access, enforce access policy controls, and enable real-time network management to secure your cloud or on-premises applications and help protect your network from malware, ransomware, and other cybersecurity threats. Zero-Trust Network Access protection and “single-click” technology are designed to make VirnetX products more effective at preventing cyber threats and more user-friendly than other available products and services.
With Matrix, municipalities can embrace advanced cybersecurity solutions for changing network requirements while leaving expensive, antiquated, and ineffective legacy systems behind.
Are you ready to enhance your municipality’s network security through Matrix? Discover the might and muscle of Matrix. Leave a languishing legacy in your rear-view mirror and defend your network and community against cybersecurity threats with Matrix’s modern Zero-Trust Network Access and “single-click” technology. Schedule your demo today!
