During an overview of his department’s planned capital projects expenditures in the next fiscal year, Stephen Pereira, Calvert County government’s technology services director, spoke about a global scourge that might have local impact.
In extolling the amazing advances that have been made in technology, which Pereira said was “exciting,” he warned, “there’s a flip side to all of that — you have to defend against all of the new cyberattacks that we are facing as a result of all these technology advancements.”
The session took place Feb. 27 during the county commissioners’ weekly meeting.
“People don’t realize governments get hijacked and have to pay ransom to get open and we are constantly under attack,” Commissioner President Earl F. “Buddy” Hance (R) said. “Director Pereira and his team stop all those attacks. We’ve not had to pay ransom. We’ve not had those issues of hacking where we’ve lost information. It’s because of the team. It costs but it’s still somebody behind those costs that do the work to protect us.”
The conversation took place just days after two California cities — Pleasant Hill and Oakley — fell victims to cyberattacks. According to reports from various media sources in California, Oakley officials declared a local emergency in the wake of the attacks.
In addition to governments, cyber pirates have recently focused attacks on health care systems.
“It’s a matter of when, not if, unfortunately,” Pereira said. “We do invest significantly in our cyber defense. Cyber security is not the most glamorous thing in the world. When our systems do eventually get taken out everyone’s going to know about it.”
“The numbers of attacks that you intercept are really high,” Commissioner Catherine M. Grasso (R) told Pereira, whose department routinely provides the commissioners with such information. “I’ve been amazed with your reports every week.”
“It’s such a big business,” Pereira said of cyber piracy. “Such a significant chunk of North Korea’s GDP [gross domestic product] comes from ransomware attacks. I mean, it’s a state-sponsored thing and it’s highly lucrative.”
Last year, Reuters news service reported the United Nations’ estimate for North Korea’s cyberattack income over a six-year period has been $3 billion.
Pereira urged the commissioners, county government staff and the general public to be wary of “those innocent looking texts that say, ‘Hey, where are you?’ And if you respond back to them they will try to become your friend and lure you into investments. If you get an odd text and you think, ‘Hey, this wasn’t meant for me, it was a mistake,’ don’t respond to it. They’re just trying to long-game you and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately it's very common, it’s very successful and we’re not catching people.”
In the county government’s proposed capital improvements plan for fiscal 2025, technology services projects list totals $2.6 million.
Veronica Atkinson, the county’s capital projects coordinator, said that represents about a $1 million reduction from the original request.
“We’re just trying to reduce costs as much as we can, because we want to make the best use of taxpayer money,” Pereira said.
The list includes the ongoing enterprise system implementation ($596,000) and $800,000 marked for network infrastructure.
“Technology is a wonderful thing but it’s expensive and it constantly changes,” Hance said.
According to information from Calvert’s fiscal 2024 budget summary, in the current fiscal year the county’s budget for the technology services department increase over 17% from the previous fiscal year and totals $10.7 million. The department has a staff that is slightly less than 40 people.
Most Popular
Comments / 0