Government Cybersecurity: Navigating Challenges and Seizing Opportunities

Growing municipality. Booming economy. Resources stretched thin. If this sounds familiar, then you’re well aware of the tension between cybersecurity needs and available resources in state and local government.

The threats are real – it seems that every day there’s another news story about a library, hospital, courthouse, or transportation hub being hit by a data breach or ransomware attack. Your internal issues are just as real. Outdated infrastructure, legacy systems, complex compliance requirements, talent shortages, and a public with high expectations will always keep you on your toes. To address cybersecurity in the context of these challenges, it helps to learn from the success of others.

Lessons from Murrieta

The Southern California City of Murrieta was already juggling the many constraints of a complex and growing municipality when they were hit with a damaging ransomware attack over a holiday weekend. The attack was first detected in their police dispatch center, but by the time they figured out which networks were affected, roughly 50% of their infrastructure was crippled.

The Murrieta IT team was able to find the source of the attack, but only after considerable damage had been done. Threat remediation was the first priority. But with a hard lesson learned, it was also vital to prevent future incidents. That’s when they found the free Blumira SIEM. They deployed it in a day and used it to determine the scope of the ransomware incident. Within just 10 minutes, they started getting information that revealed malicious logins from IPs outside the United States and credentials being changed.

Mike Amado, IT Program Administrator for the City of Murrieta, knew his team had to work to get ahead of the threat actors. “We discovered that it was no longer just on prem. They were moving to our cloud environments as well.”

With the visibility Blumira provided, Mike and his team were able to contain and mitigate the threat. Once the ransomware incident was handled, the City of Murrieta did a full evaluation of multiple cybersecurity solutions. Blumira came out on top.

“It really came down to ease of use; being able to implement it within a couple hours, which we had already done prior – because like anybody in IT knows, you can have as many tools in the world as you can, but if you don't actively use them or actively look at them, they're useless,” Amado said. “When an alert does come out, (Blumira) really simplifies it down to, ‘This is your problem, walk through these steps and here's how you remediate it.’”

Big benefits for a small city

Faced with the challenge of enhancing cybersecurity with limited resources, the City of Murrieta implemented Blumira's cloud SIEM solution and achieved:

• Rapid deployment within hours – not the days or months other solutions require
• Automated threat detection and response – improved threat visibility without the need to hire additional talent or staff a security operations center (SOC)
• Streamlined compliance reporting – with a year of centralized log storage and built-in reporting
• 24/7 expert support – Blumira is continually adding new detections to the platform, and stands ready to help analyze and respond to threats

Embracing opportunities and overcoming challenges

A strong security posture requires that government IT teams think about cybersecurity throughout all departments and systems. While attackers persist and become more sophisticated, opportunities are increasing to enhance security by migrating to cloud-based services, implementing intelligent automation, and deploying rapid threat detection.

State and local governments like the City of Murrieta are faced with a long list of cybersecurity challenges. Here’s how Blumira helps customers addressing these issues:

• Budget constraints – Prioritize foundational security measures like multi-factor authentication and regular patching. Get the most from tight budgets by using a cost-effective, cloud-based platform like the Blumira SIEM and XDR solution.
• Legacy systems – You can’t just throw everything out and start fresh. Instead, develop a phased plan for modernization. Meanwhile, implement security controls on all endpoints and monitor for unusual activity.
• Compliance scrutiny – Look for a cybersecurity solution like Blumira with centralized logging and built-in compliance reporting that allows you to respond to multiple compliance frameworks.
• Cybersecurity skills gap – In addition to targeted training, support your team with an automated security platform that blocks suspicious activity and provides easy response playbooks. Blumira customers also benefit from 24/7 SecOps support from experts you don’t have to hire.
• Ransomware on the rise – Maintain a separate, secure backup of critical data and implement a multi-layered defense strategy that includes a platform like Blumira that detects and responds to threats in real-time.
• Data must be protected – Implement strong access controls and use a robust SIEM solution to monitor for unauthorized access or data exfiltration attempts.
• Third-parties increase risk – Vendors and partners are all too often a source of vulnerability. Develop a vendor risk management program, require cyber protection in contracts, and monitor third-party activities within your network using a SIEM solution like Blumira.

Government cybersecurity is everyone’s business

High-profile disruptions impacting libraries, hospitals, ports, and city services impact the daily lives of citizens and serve as a reminder that cybersecurity requires constant vigilance and a multitude of solutions. In addition to threat monitoring, detection, and response, a number of other factors come into play:

• Focus on critical infrastructure – The Federal government is continuing to focus on the importance of securing essential governmental services. To support state and local governments, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) includes a grant program available to state, local, territorial, and tribal governments in order to address cybersecurity risks and threats to information systems. You can learn more about applying for a grant on the CISA website.
• IoT Security – Smart City initiatives promise to enhance efficiency, communications, services, and accountability. But smart applications need to be carefully vetted before they’re deployed since they can become vulnerable to exploitation by cyber attackers.
• Workforce and citizen education – Municipalities need to get comfortable with honest discussions about cybersecurity. Investment in education and training needn’t be restricted to city employees. The more citizens understand how to spot problems and protect themselves, the more they can be part of the solution.
• Cybersecurity planning frameworks – Build your cybersecurity strategy around a solid framework like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. As part of your planning, conduct regular risk assessments to identify critical assets and vulnerabilities, then regularly test and update your incident response plans.

Empowering government cybersecurity with Blumira

While state and local governments face significant cybersecurity challenges, there are ample opportunities to leverage technology and tested strategies in order to build robust defenses against cyber threats.

At Blumira, we're dedicated to supporting governments with cloud SIEM and XDR solutions that offer enterprise-grade security that's accessible, user-friendly, and tailored to resource-constrained IT teams.

Discover how Blumira can help protect your critical assets, meet compliance requirements, and stay ahead of evolving threats. Contact us today to explore our government-focused cybersecurity solutions and take the next step in securing your municipality’s digital future.