During a meeting of the Legislature’s Study Committee on County Funding and Services on Wednesday, it was revealed that South Dakota has not applied for a federal cybersecurity grant aimed at helping state and local governments defend against external cyber attacks.
The program was launched by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2022, but South Dakota, along with Florida, chose not to apply for the grant.
Jim Edman, who previously served as the state government’s chief information security officer and is now a statewide coordinator for the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, informed legislators that businesses in South Dakota have experienced ransomware attacks.
To improve data protection, he suggested implementing backup systems, providing employee training, keeping software up to date, and restricting user privileges.
The committee also discussed other county expenses, including road maintenance and public healthcare subsidized by counties.