Academia Leadership in Improving the Cybersecurity Posture of Government and Local Communities

Abstract

Cyberattacks on communities have been on the rise for more than a decade. The Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security at The University of Texas at San Antonio has been working with states and communities for over two decades to address this issue. In the beginning, the efforts were centered around conducting cybersecurity exercises for states and communities but after conducting a number of these it became obvious that more was needed. A model was developed to follow to establish cybersecurity programs for states and communities a number of whom were then introduced to this model. It was then determined that what was lacking was a champion to be the catalyst for establishing a whole-community cybersecurity program. This paper will discuss what has been learned as to what entity within communities appears to have the best chance of success at being a successful community catalyst.