Texas boosts local cyber response with regional security operations center
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Texas Department of Information Resources and Angelo State University will deliver “boots on the ground” cyber support for local governments.
To provide local governments with cybersecurity support, the Texas Department of Information Resources announced it would partner with Angelo State University to pilot a regional security operations center.
The RSOC will offer participating organizations real-time network security monitoring as well as alerts, incident response and cybersecurity educational services, according to an April 14 release.
Last year, the state’s legislature created the RSOC program to give local governments facing major cybersecurity incidents “boots on the ground” support. Through partnerships, the RSOC will advance Texas’ whole-of-state approach to cybersecurity by increasing threat protection and cyber maturity across the state.
Cities, counties, local governments, independent school districts, water districts, hospital districts, public junior colleges and regional state agency offices are eligible customers, according to an “expression of interest” overview issued by Texas DIR last year.
Moreover, the RSOC will help prepare the next generation cybersecurity workforce, by giving university students real-world experience with network security services, offensive and defensive cyber operations and cyber intel support. DIR plans to partner with additional public universities as well.
“This program will enable ASU to become a leader in the region and foster a cyber/technology community of practice with a variety of entities and groups, each with their own unique needs,” ASU President Ronnie Hawkins Jr. said. “Our key objective is to develop a cybersecurity center of excellence that not only is a regional hub, but also one for the state of Texas.”
In August 2019, a coordinated ransomware attack that targeted over 40 Texas municipalities and impacted 23 local governments put smaller agencies in a bind, Texas State Chief Information Security Officer Nancy Rainosek said at NextGov’s Feb. 10 CyberDefenders webinar. Streamlining communication between federal, state and local agencies helped departments prepare for and respond to the ransomware attacks, she said, adding that swift incident reporting and agency collaboration were key components of the successful response.
“We are excited to partner with ASU as we expand cybersecurity services to local entities in the West Texas region,” Crawford said in the release. “We received exceptional proposals from several Texas public universities, but ASU’s proposal convinced us that they will hit the ground running and lay the foundation for this program’s future success for all of Texas.”