Six Takeaways on Strengthening Public-Safety Cybersecurity Through Collective Defense
Summary
A CIS webinar highlighted how cyber threats can disrupt public-safety operations and outlined how SLTT agencies can improve resilience through shared intelligence, leadership engagement, continuous assessment, and layered defenses.
Key points
- Ransomware, phishing, and data exposure can disrupt 911, dispatch, and other public-safety operations, forcing agencies to use manual processes or operate with reduced capabilities.
- Limited staff and resources can leave SLTT agencies overwhelmed by alerts and without enough shared context to prioritize threats.
- The MS-ISAC provides participating agencies with shared threat intelligence, indicators of compromise, and advisories to support detection and response.
- Agency leaders should assess resilience, ransomware preparedness, critical-system protection, and risks to personnel, including doxing and sensitive-information exposure.
- Continuous cybersecurity assessment should cover mission-critical systems, recovery readiness, alignment with CIS Controls, and human-targeted risks.
- CIS describes MDBR as a preventive service and CIS MDR as endpoint detection and response, combining them as a layered defense approach.
Article Details
- Topic
- Collective defense and cybersecurity resilience for U.S. public safety agencies
Vendors
Products
CIS Critical Security ControlsAlignment to the CIS Critical Security Controls® (CIS Controls®)CIS Managed Detection and ResponseBlocking and Reporting (MDBR) helps stop threats before a connection is ever made, while CIS Managed Detection and Response™ (CIS MDR™) identifies and responds to activity at the endpoint with 24x7x365 U.S.-basedMalicious Domain Blocking and ReportingMalicious Domain Blocking and Reporting (MDBR) helps stop threats before a connection is ever made, while CIS Managed Detection and Response™ (CIS MDR™) identifies and responds to activity at the endpoint with 24x7x365Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis CenterThrough the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center® (MS-ISAC®), agencies can access shared threat intelligence, actionable indicators of compromise (IOCs), and real-time advisories informed by activity