With aid of AI, nonprofit will offer cybersecurity assistance to local governments
The nonprofit National League of Cities on Tuesday announced a new initiative designed to aid local governments in improving their cybersecurity postures.
With the help of CyberAlliance, an IT services and consulting firm headquartered in North Carolina, the nonprofit will help under-resourced government agencies understand and remediate cybersecurity threats. The initiative will aim to help officials prioritize solutions and explain cybersecurity risks to elected officials, insurers and the public.
Clarence E. Anthony, the league’s chief executive, said in a press release that the project’s goal is to offer its membership “practical guidance,” not increase the complexity of their organizations — “Our partnership with CyberAlliance is about providing local governments with the knowledge and resources that local leaders need to make informed decisions that create strong, resilient essential public services.”
The initiative will use Sally AI, a cybersecurity platform developed by CyberAlliance, that reportedly “transforms technical cybersecurity information into clear recommendations city leaders can understand and act upon.” The company’s website illustrates Sally as a caped, smiling robot that “turns fragmented signals … into board-ready decisions.”
For local governments, which often lack sufficient cybersecurity funding and staff, operate much of the nation’s critical infrastructure, such as water and wastewater plants. The threats to critical infrastructure operated by local governments became apparent last month after reports of cyberattackers, likely from Iran, compromised water utilities in at least a dozen states.
