March 26, 2024 |
Photo – CrowdStrike logo – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Saratoga town council voted to partner with the county on cyber security.
As reported by Bigfoot99, Carbon County IT Director Matt Webster has traveled across the county asking towns to opt in to a state funded cyber security program called CrowdStrike. Webster has offered to help towns implement and monitor the security platform.
Earlier this month, the Medicine Bow town council voted to accept the county’s offer to install and manage the computer firewall program. The following day, Hanna Mayor Jon Ostling rejected the proposal, citing the efficacy of the town’s existing cyber security program.
Saratoga is the latest municipality to enter into an agreement with the county to install CrowdStrike on the town’s computers. During last week’s Saratoga town council meeting, IT Director Webster and Carbon County Emergency Manager Lenny Layman addressed the board.
Layman said he partnered with the county IT director after the mid-November cyber-attack against the city of Rawlins.
The emergency manager said he spent 15 days working with local, state, and federal agencies to contain the unauthorized incursion into the city’s computer network.
Layman said the Rawlins cyber-attack had a silver lining. The emergency manager said the incident showed the Wyoming state government just how vulnerable towns are to internet-based attacks.
Layman said the state obtained a federal grant to provide computer security for all municipalities through the CrowdStrike program.
County IT Director Webster addressed the Saratoga town council next. Webster said small towns are especially vulnerable to cyber-attacks. CrowdStrike is a powerful tool to prevent municipalities from having their computer networks compromised, said Webster.
Webster said Carbon County implemented the CrowdStrike software a year ago. He said the state has used the security program for longer.
The county IT director said small towns lack the finances and expertise to implement most of the state’s cyber security recommendations. Webster said the county commissioners have allowed him to offer his services to install and monitor the CrowdStrike software.
Webster said the state’s grant will pay for CrowdStrike for two years at no cost to municipalities. The IT director said the more towns that sign up with CrowdStrike, the more likely it is that the state will continue to fund the program.
Webster said just about every town and governmental agency in Carbon County has agreed to implement the CrowdStrike software.
Emergency Manager Layman said to beat the state’s March 15th deadline to enroll in the cyber security program, the county opted in for all the municipalities. Layman said Saratoga may choose to reject the CrowdStrike software without penalty.
The Saratoga town council voted to accept the county’s offer to install and monitor the CrowdStrike program for two years.
Saratoga joins Rawlins, Sinclair, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow, Baggs, Dixon, and Encampment in agreeing to partner with the county on cyber security. The Riverside town council will meet on April 18th to likely discuss the matter. A call to the Hanna town hall confirmed that the town has rejected the county’s offer.
