CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West
Virginia has taken a big step to address the state’s cybersecurity risk with
the passage and signing of the Secure WV Act. A $4.2 million initiative, which
is expected to take approximately two years to complete, the Secure WV Act will
establish an enterprise service for cyber-risk management, making it easier for
the state to identify risks and mitigate them in the future. Gov. Jim Justice
signed HB 2452, the Secure WV Act, into law on March 27, 2019.
“The Secure WV Act serves as a
foundational step forward in cybersecurity protection of state information
systems and data,” said Chief Technology Officer Joshua Spence. “By
leveraging a risk management approach, the state can ensure cybersecurity
resources are applied to that which matters most.”
“Knowing and understanding the
state’s cybersecurity risk is critical to ensuring that threats are managed
appropriately because our strategy for protecting the state relies heavily on
policy,” Spence added. “Gov. Justice signed Executive Order 3-17 in January
2017 because he understood the need to establish a cyber-risk management
approach to empower stakeholders and decision makers with actionable cyber risk
knowledge.”
In 2018, West Virginia became one
of only four states to land a spot in the National Governors Association (NGA)
cybersecurity policy academy. In its proposal, the state said it planned to
work with the Legislature more frequently to help champion cybersecurity
policies. With the NGA’s expertise and the support of the Legislature, Spence
said the first step will be to create the cyber risk program’s policies and
procedures.
“As the state seeks to optimize
government services by leveraging technology, it is important the state
understand the associated cyber risk to ensure that the appropriate levels of
protection are applied,” Spence said. “As part of this project, the state will
establish a core cybersecurity standard that will allow for an apples-to-apples
comparison of cyber risk assessments across all agencies within the Executive
Branch, as well as provide state leadership with a holistic perspective of
cyber risk.”
You can view the bill here: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_history.cfm?INPUT=2452&year=2019&sessiontype=RS