NGA to Help States Work on Cybersecurity Ahead of 2020 Election

The National Governors Association picked six states to enhance interagency operations and communications ahead of the 2020 election. Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Nevada and Virginia will work with NGA’s Homeland Security and Public Safety division to boost cybersecurity, promote cooperation and create statewide response plans for attacks on election systems, the organization said Wednesday. 

State cabinet agencies, election officials and governors’ offices will join the initiative. The plan comes after National Summit on State Cybersecurity in Louisiana, where NGA and representatives from 50 states discussed the efforts to address common cybersecurity challenges. 

Christopher Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and 2019 Wash100 Award recipient, said cyber attacks during the 2016 election served as the “wake-up call” across the federal government. He added the incident changed how the public look at threats to elections.