Absence of Cybersecurity Expertise Affects Public-Safety Organizations

Cybersecurity threats have become pervasive for police departments, first responders, and other public-safety organizations, with 93% of organizations reporting a cybersecurity incident in the previous year. According to a report published on December 8 by cloud platform provider Mark43, which was based on a survey of 343 first responders. 

Based on the 2023 U.S. Public Safety Trends Report, 76% of first responders are concerned about the vulnerability of their IT systems to ransomware attacks and data breaches. Simultaneously, the vast majority of first responders must deal with outdated technology and disconnected systems, with 68% of public-safety officers required to file paperwork from the office rather than in the field, and 67% of first responders experiencing issues with inefficient technology, according to the report.

“These agencies in many cases do not have a dedicated security staff who can worry about these issues all day, ensuring that data is backed up and running vulnerability scans,” he says. “To the the [cybersecurity] community, these are table stakes — you need to be doing patching, you need to be doing vulnerability scanning … but these agencies are realizing that they cannot protect themselves from these risks on their own.”