Posted on by Chad Young

State and Federal Response to COVID-19: Cybersecurity

What is Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity refers to the measures taken to secure electronic data and systems against criminal attacks, including malware, phishing, spearphishing, denial-of-service, etc. In most companies and businesses there is some level of internal cybersecurity steps that have been take to stop these attacks. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing unprecedented levels of teleworking, including telemedicine. Suddenly, these systems are significantly more vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Addressing the Problem

States and private industry have teamed up to handle the influx of state unemployment claims on systems that lack the capacity. Additionally, private industry is starting to provide tools to states and local governments at no cost to ensure our mobile working platforms are secure.

How are States Impacted?

As more states struggle to ensure that the cyber infrastructure of their unemployment sites can handle the sudden influx of claims, IBM and the Linux Foundation have stepped up to fill the void in COBOL, a programming language.[1]  IBM and the Linux Foundation launched three new programs aimed to both connect states with COBOL coders and train new COBOL programmers.[2]

A recent report published by the Information Technolgy and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), revealed that most state unemployment websites are poorly designed, in addition to being ill-equipped to handle the current surge in traffic.[3] ITIF made several recommendations, including a request of Congressional funding for states, adoption of “mobile-first” strategies and a shift to cloud-based websites.

Cloudflare, a web-infrastructure and security company, is providing free access to some of its products to state and local government to support secure and efficient remote work.[4] According to Cloudflare, government agencies have seen their web traffic double during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Facebook has started directing people who have interacted with misinformation about COVID-19 to a “mythbusting” page on the World Health Organization’s website.[5] According to Facebook, if you have liked, reacted or commented on harmful misinfroamtion about COVID-19, there will be message in your News Feed that the post has since been removed.[6]

Federal and State Action

State and federal leaders are taking action to improve cybersecurity during the pandemic. Here are a few recent developments. 

  • House Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee wrote a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi requesting that funding for cybersecurity assistance for state and local governments be included in the next COVID-19 emergency relief bill.[7] In the letter, they ask the Speaker to look at the State and Local Government Cybersecurity Act, which would issue $400 million annually in grants to states to improve cybersecurity procedures.[8]
  • Vermont Gov. Phil Scott announced a partnership with Microsoft and local internet service providers to install mobile hotspots around the state in light of COVID-19 mobilizing work, education and medicine.[9] This will be particularly helpful for rural communities seeking to work, learn and stay connected during COVID-19.
  • The Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Secuirty Agency (CISA) offers free online training and webinars on cybersecurity and infrastructure security. Training resources are available here: go.usa.gov/xv8fd.[10]
  • As Michigan unemployment nears 25%, state officials are considering using the added strain to state computer systems as a chance to pursue funding of broad IT upgrades.[11] While Michigan’s unemployment system is on a more modernized platform, not the 60-year-old COBOL system, Michigan is still struggling to cope with the influx of claims.
  • The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has signed contracts totaling $119 million in order to handle the influx of COVID-19 related unemployment calls and applications.[12]
  • Google, Deloitte, and Verizon have partnered to help New York to build capicity to handle the sudden influx of claims during the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] According to a press release, Google has built a user-friendly, streamlined unemployment insurance application. Deloitte opened an additional call center and Verizon expanded the capacity of the New York Department of Labor’s call center by 10,000.

What is the Expected Outcome?

As we continue to see a large influx of unemployment claims, legacy state systems are struggling to keep up. We are now seeing states and private industry investing in upgrading these systems. Whether by training programmers in unfamiliar coding languages, connecting coders with states or investing in the development of new cyber infrastructure, states are taking action to improve the unemployment claims process. COVID-19 has brought to light issues with legacy systems. Increasingly, updates are seen as critical to sustaining residents.  

Resources for State Leaders:

—

[1] IBM and Open Mainframe Project Mobilize to Connect States with COBOL Skills, By Meredith Stowell,  https://newsroom.ibm.com/2020-04-09-IBM-and-Open-Mainframe-Project-Mobilize-to-Connect-States-with-COBOL-Skills

[2] IBM and Open Mainframe Project Mobilize to Connect States with COBOL Skills, By Meredith Stowell,  https://newsroom.ibm.com/2020-04-09-IBM-and-Open-Mainframe-Project-Mobilize-to-Connect-States-with-COBOL-Skills

[3] Most State Unemployment Websites Fail Mobile and Accessibility Tests, by Michael McLaughlin and Daniel Castro April 15, 2020, https://itif.org/publications/2020/04/15/most-state-unemployment-websites-fail-mobile-and-accessibility-tests

[4] Offer of Assistance to Governments During COVID-19, Joceyln Woolbright, April 15, 2020 https://blog.cloudflare.com/covid-19-government-assistance/

[5] An Update on Our Work to Keep People Infromed and Limit Misinfromation About COVID-19, by Guy Rosen, April 16, 2020 https://about.fb.com/news/2020/04/covid-19-misinfo-update/

[6] An Update on Our Work to Keep People Infromed and Limit Misinfromation About COVID-19, by Guy Rosen, April 16, 2020 https://about.fb.com/news/2020/04/covid-19-misinfo-update/

[7] House Members Want State and Local Cybersecurity Aid in Next Relief Bill, by Benjamin Freed, April 14, 2020 https://statescoop.com/house-members-want-state-and-local-cybersecurity-aid-in-next-relief-bill/

[8] https://docs.house.gov/meetings/HM/HM00/20200212/110515/BILLS-116pih-TheStateandLocalCybersecurityImprovementAct.pdf

[9] Businesses Partnering with the State of Vermont to Address Rural Broadband Gap, https://governor.vermont.gov/press-release/businesses-partnering-state-vermont-address-rural-broadband-gap

[10] https://twitter.com/CISAgov/status/1250802173488910339

[11] Michigan, Seeks IT Investment as Unemployment Nears 25 Percent, by Colin Wood, April 14, 2020 https://statescoop.com/michigan-seeks-it-investment-as-unemployment-nears-25-percent/

[12] Florida Signs $119M in Contracts to Fix Troubled Unemployment Website, Call Center Amid Coronavirus Fallout, by Emilee Speck, April 14, 2020  https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2020/04/13/florida-signs-119m-in-contracts-to-fix-troubled-unemployment-website-call-center-amid-coronavirus-fallout/

[13] New York Department of Labor Press Release, April 9, 2020 https://labor.ny.gov/pressreleases/2020/april-09-2020.shtm

Proudly powered by WordPress