Is Cyber Security a Top Priority for Your County?

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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!