North Carolina officials call for stronger cybersecurity defenses

StateScoop reports that North Carolina's tech bureau has called on government agencies, residents, and businesses to coordinate in reinforcing cybersecurity defenses amid escalating threats around the world.

In a press release issued Monday, officials said the department had received "recent intelligence" pointing to increased cyber activity from "nation-state actors," adding that "the cyber threat environment remains heightened and ever-changing, with organizations nationwide, including state governments, continuing to monitor for malicious actions from a range of domestic and international threat actors."

State leaders emphasized the urgency of the situation, with Chief Information Security Officer Bernice Russell-Bond warning that "cyberthreats are no longer distant concerns; they are immediate realities," while Chief information Officer Teena Piccione warned that systems are "on high alert" and stressed that "vigilance is essential."

Experts noted that while ransomware has disrupted local governments in the past, some nation-state actors favor "destructive and disruptive attacks and wiper attacks," including low-level tactics such as distributed denial-of-service attacks, with potential impacts on websites operated by secretary of state offices.