At the June 26 council meeting, he proposed a full-scale inspection of its system.
The background
Bradford pointed to what other cities have encountered.
“Considering what has recently happened in the city of Dallas with their cyberattack, [and] someone else just went through one—Fort Worth just went through one—I think it would be very prudent for us to do a full IT security audit that would entail not only the technology systems, but it would look at policies and procedures, really the whole thing, to make sure that we’re compliant,” he said, noting that would include employees being educated and systems being secure.
Zooming in
Bradford said he has talked with a representative from CIBR Ready—based in Holly Springs, North Carolina—about its services and that the company would provide a proposal. The mayor said the cost would be “pretty minimal for what they provide,” explaining the company would examine the town’s systems to ensure safety and then provide recommendations, and the company would look at policies and procedures—not just the technology component.
“Once we have a little more information from them and essentially a proposal, then [we’ll] determine whether it meets the threshold where we have to go out to bid,” Bradford said, adding that whatever is needed, a full security audit should be conducted.
What they’re saying
Council Member Ronald Schmidt said he supported the idea of the audit. Fellow Council Member Cynthia Hermann said there were security and email issues in the last year or so, and cyberattacks are common now and security is nothing to take for granted. Hermann said the town does need to examine where it stands and determine its next steps, including the costs.
“It’s just the next layer of protection for ourselves,” she said.
