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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe modern infrastructure systems that make life livable are under constant threat of attack. Water and wastewater plants, 911 systems, municipal electric utilities and government-operated financial and health care systems are more vulnerable than ever to cyberattacks. Not a week goes by without hearing about another government agency suffering a cyberattack.
What is fascinating to me, however, is how one Indiana company is taking this threat and turning it into an enormous opportunity for central Indiana to lead in cybersecurity.
Joe and Julie Bielawski, founders of Knowledge Services, are leading a mission to secure the nation’s critical public infrastructure assets through an innovative framework to ensure that third-party software and technology providers are implementing and upholding best practices in cybersecurity. StateRAMP, a not-for-profit spearheaded by Executive Director Leah McGrath, is gaining traction nationwide while growing quality tech jobs in Indiana.
Nationally, 19 states, four municipalities and two higher education institutions have signed onto the program that requires all third-party software and technology vendors to be vetted and monitored by StateRAMP.
StateRAMP collaborates with government entities to standardize security requirements to properly vet third-party software vendors and provide ongoing monitoring of these vendors. This results in bringing the scope of control for cybersecurity into the hands of these institutions, ensuring that these governments fully understand the security risk profile of companies handling sensitive operations and data.
Several attempts have been made over the years to foster a cybersecurity industry in Indiana, and the results have been anemic. In my opinion, StateRAMP is the best opportunity Indiana has at securing our critical public infrastructure while also developing Indiana’s cybersecurity industry.
Later this month, Fishers will sign onto StateRAMP to ensure that all 175 of our third-party software vendors are vetted. Imagine how many vendors there are statewide—all housing critical data at risk of attack. Each one of these technologies represent a potential vulnerability or access point to our personal information, our critical public infrastructure and our public safety systems.
It is my sincere hope that the state of Indiana will be the 20th state to sign on and that many of our cities and towns across the state will sign on to secure their assets. In doing so, we will not only be safer, but we might just build an unmatched cybersecurity industry as well.
—Scott Fadness, Fishers mayor
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