Austin, Texas – Cybersecurity for State Leaders, a nationwide initiative led by the National Cybersecurity Center (NCC) and supported by Google, hosted a virtual briefing on Thursday, Oct 28th, 2021 12:00 PM CT, and featured remarks from Texas Deputy CISO Suzi Hilliard. The initiative aims to bring best practices in cybersecurity to state lawmakers and their staff in all 50 states — with both live virtual events and a free, executive text message course available at any time.
“In today’s world, understanding a cybersecurity landscape is becoming increasingly important. I don’t know if we can go a week without hearing about cyberattacks. Being aware of threats can help you be more vigilant in your online interactions,” said Texas’ Deputy CISO Suzi Hilliard. A 2019 ransomware attack in Texas that took out 750 computers across the state in less than 90 minutes and is still considered of the worst attacks.
The Texas cybersecurity for State Leaders briefing also featured national cybersecurity leaders in both the public and private sector, including famed cybersecurity executive and Investor on ABC’s Shark Tank and founder and CEO of the Herjavec Group, Robert Herjavec, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), former State Department Spokesperson and Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs Heather Nauert, Meredith Griffanti of FTI Consulting, representatives from Google, IBM, Microsoft’s Defending Democracy Program, and more.
This nonpartisan briefing prepares lawmakers and statehouse staff to be vigilant against cyber threats by offering a deep dive into: the ecosystem of cybersecurity, common types of cyber-attacks, how and why cyber-attacks work, and best practices on how to protect individuals against cyber threats.
Register for the free text message course here: https://ncc.arist.co/courses/60f47c163927130bbb8f8aa7
Cybersecurity is more important than ever as evidenced by governments more frequently falling victim to cyberattacks. This initiative takes training directly to the frontlines of our democracy and ensures state lawmakers are well versed on the threat environment as well as how to mitigate and protect against potential attacks.
For more information on Cybersecurity for State Leaders, visit https://cyberforgovleaders.org/.
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The National Cybersecurity Center (NCC) is a non-profit organization established for cyber innovation and awareness. Established in 2016 from the vision of United States Senator from Colorado John Hickenlooper, in coordination with several people from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and the community, the NCC serves both public and private organizations and individuals through training, education and research. Discover NCC at https://cyber-center.org/.
