The special group tapped by Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration in 2019 to respond to cyber attacks has been in a state of near constant activation. The costs to the state and local government agencies have spiraled in that time, state data shows.
(TNS) — In 2019, around the time school boards across Louisiana were hit with an alarming cyber attack, Gov. John Bel Edwards' administration tapped a handful of state employees for a team that would respond to cyber attacks much in the way the state responds to hurricanes or chemical spills.
The assumption was that the group, called Emergency Support Function 17, would be activated infrequently, responding to cyber attacks sporadically, amid a growing threat from hackers around the globe.
Instead, the officials have found themselves responding to cyber attacks more or less nonstop for the past four years. And the costs to the state and local government agencies have spiraled over that time, state data shows.
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