October is National Security Awareness Month – a campaign administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) designed to raise awareness about cyber security. The DHS has a website that can provide assistance to Georgia counties wanting to protect their electronic data and increase their resiliency in the event of a cyber incident. Click here to access their online resources. The FBI also has a website with information on protecting data and on their efforts to combat the most dangerous cyber criminals. Click here to access their website.

Director James Comey, testifying before Congress last week, said that "the pervasiveness of the cyber threat is such that the FBI and other intelligence, military, homeland security, and law enforcement agencies across the government view cyber security and cyber attacks as a top priority."¹

Georgia county governments should also view cyber security as a top priority because they are not immune from the dangers of data breaches. Thankfully, resources for Georgia counties are abundant; it is just a matter of taking the time to prepare and protect the counties’ processes and systems.

Members of the ACCG Property & Liability Program are fortunate to have access to a special resource: the eRisk Hub®. (Click here for more information.) The eRisk Hub^®, a private web-based portal, provides a wealth of information about the latest public entity breaches across the nation. It also contains information and technical resources that can assist in the prevention of network, cyber and privacy losses and support in the timely reporting and recovery of losses if an incident occurs. Should a member experience a data breach or other privacy/cyber liability incident, they should contact the ACCG Claims Unit as soon as possible since a "data breach coach" is part of the service provided by ACCG-IRMA. This coach can help the member navigate the complex environment around cyber breaches.

Check the site often as content and features are added periodically to enhance the site’s usefulness. Contact David Bergey (dbergey@accg.org or 678-225-4242) if help is needed is accessing the website.

Note that as a part of ACCG’s Property & Liability Program (ACCG-IRMA), liability coverage arising out of a Cyber Security Event is provided for up to $1,000,000 per occurrence and aggregate. Remediation coverage to notify those whose data may have been breached and to minimize the effect of the breach is sub-limited to $500,000. (Higher limits may be quoted upon written request to the ACCG-IRMA Administrator (accg.admin@marsh.com) and payment of an additional contribution.)

Make those positive steps to build resilience in the county’s critical infrastructure this month. There’s no better time!

Originally from Youngstown Ohio, Crafter graduated from Spelman College‘s dual degree Engineering program majoring in Economics and Industrial Engineering. She received a law degree from Howard University School of Law in 2016 and is currently enrolled in Georgia State University’s Health Law LLM Program. Crafter is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc and enjoys traveling, shopping, animals, anything music related, and stimulating conversations and debates. After receiving her LLM, she would like to work in the Office of General Counsel for a hospital, agency, or company which focuses on health, education, and economic disparities and their impacts with the hopes of one day starting her own law firm. During her internship with ACCG, Crafter will conduct legal research, help edit and review publications, update and summarize ACCG boards bylaws, write memos and review legal documents, and other projects as assigned by the legal department.

Research and Policy Intern, Hunter Bradshaw

Bradshaw is completing the last semester of Georgia States Masters in Public Policy program. He began his education by obtaining a BBA in Finance from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. From there Bradshaw began working as a financial analyst for Verizon in Tulsa Oklahoma before pursuing a graduate degree in public policy, a lifelong passion. He has completed internships with local nonprofits such as Friends of Refugees in Clarkston Georgia, and performed work with municipal governments, assisting both the City of Beaumont Texas in addition to Hapeville Georgia. Bradshaw maintains a 3.8 GPA in the MPP program at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and voices a self-described passion for policy research. He plans to use the opportunity at ACCG to increase his policy research experience so he can pursue a career path in policy and data analysis post-graduation. Over the course of his internship, Bradshaw will be tasked with compiling updated TAVT data, tracking and compiling statistics on county election results, updating SPLOST data, compiling and reviewing water conservation data, providing research assistance on legislative issues, and other projects as assigned by the research and policy departments.

The budget process is one the most laborious, yet important parts of government work. Once adopted the budget morphs into a policy document that communicates a city’s or county’s initiatives and priorities to employees and the public. 

Lead faculty is Katherine Willoughby, a professor at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, author of three books on public budgeting and recipient of the 2016 Aaron Wildavsky Award by the Association for Budgeting & Financial Management. Get details and register today.