Alaska CISO Shannon Lawson says the state is now preparing to make an unprecedented investment in cybersecurity tools from a variety of vendors.

Bill Vajda, the first Alaskan technology official granted the governor's authority to lead an IT consolidation, has departed state government after less than 18 months in the role.

The new 13-member body is charged with advising the legislative and executive branches as the state upgrades to the next generation of technology.

Alaska, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan and Vermont are getting some help with their public-benefits eligibility systems.

Legislation signed by Gov. Bill Walker could require multi-line phone operators to upgrade their emergency location-tracking capabilities starting next year.

An IP address associated with a top Beijing University that's been linked to previous geopolitical hacking efforts scanned Alaska's state government and telecom firms, though no breaches were detected.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough, outside Anchorage, was hit by the same complex virus cybersecurity researchers believe attacked the PGA.

Officials say the "insidious" cyberattack that took down more than 100 internal servers and systems in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough last week was the work of an experienced and "very well-organized" actor.

The breach, which may have exposed the personal information at least 500 people, occurred after a computer was infected with the malware.