Brandon Wales, the acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said ransomware is "quickly becoming a national emergency."
"It has to stop," Gabriel Sterling, who manages the state's voting systems, said after a young technician received death threats fueled by far-right social media.
While cyberattacks against the public sector haven't slowed down at all, some states are putting more resources into how they help local governments recover.
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to appoint new FCC leaders who will work more closely with local governments and reinstate Obama-era regulations.
When cities sent employees home as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, many also contemplated whether they could maintain even the most basic public services.