US Could Appoint a Cybersecurity Leader for Each State

The USA is considering legislation that would protect local governments by requiring the appointment of a cybersecurity leader for each state.

Backers of the Cybersecurity State Coordinator Act of 2020 say the proposed law will improve intelligence sharing between state and federal governments and speed up incident response times in the event of a cyber-attack.

Under the legislation, the director of the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency would be tasked with appointing an employee of the agency in each state to serve as cybersecurity state coordinator. 

Money to create these positions would come from the federal government, which would be required to ring-fence the necessary funding. 

The role of each state coordinator would be multifaceted, combining elements of training, advisory work, and program development.

Each leader would serve as a principal federal cybersecurity risk advisor, coordinating efforts to prepare for, respond to, and remediate cyber-attacks. Another core responsibility would be to raise awareness of the financial, technical, and operational resources available to nonfederal entities from the federal government.

Coordinators would be expected to support training, exercises, and planning for continuity of operations to expedite as swift a recovery as possible from cybersecurity incidents. Furthermore, they would be called on to assist nonfederal entities in developing and coordinating vulnerability disclosure programs consistent with federal and information security industry standards.

"State, local, Tribal, and territorial entities face a growing threat from advanced persistent threat actors, hostile nation states, criminal groups, and other malicious cyber actors," reads the ..

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