Cybercriminals are targeting government agencies with damaging and costly cyberattacks that degrade network performance and raise the specter of destructive data breaches. According to the Verizon 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report,1 Public Administration was the industry with the most cyber incidents—recording around one-fifth of total incidents. Of these, 17.8% had a confirmed data disclosure.2
At the same time, state and local government agencies are facing an IT skills shortage that has left them struggling to properly staff their IT departments. In a National Association of State Chief Information Officers survey, inadequate availability of cybersecurity professionals and inadequate cybersecurity staffing were the second and third most cited barriers to addressing cybersecurity challenges.3 Without the needed expertise, government organizations are having challenges keeping up with the rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape and making sure their networks perform as required. Since these agencies often handle large amounts of personally identifiable information (PII), it is particularly urgent that they identify the necessary solutions to secure their networks.
Managed network solutions can help state and local governments overcome their IT staffing challenges, strengthen their cybersecurity and improve network performance. By serving as a strategic lever in this way, managed services can enable government organizations to execute timely network transformations and better manage the considerable cyber risks they face today.