The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) needs to provide more information to state and local governments to help them better meet requirements for the agency’s Homeland Security Grant Program, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.

From the lone hacker to nation-state operatives, government agencies from the Federal level down to local municipalities are under constant threat of a cyberattack. In recent years, the Federal government has responded by sharing guidance and information, but that only takes budget-strapped state and local government entities so far.

Following an increase in fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic, state and local government (SLG) organizations are sharpening their focus on identity and access management (IAM) to fend off cybersecurity threats.

Amid a tumultuous threat landscape, state and local government (SLG) IT leaders are warning that their organizations’ cybersecurity preparedness is putting citizen data at risk, according to new research from MeriTalk, underwritten by Invicti, Keeper, Recorded Future and ServiceNow.

Smaller state and local governments (SLGs) often do not have the resources to build a robust IT department, and IT experts say cybercriminals often target these smaller agencies because of that reason.