States Bolster Data Security Technology in Response to Covid-19, Survey Finds

The immediate change over to remote work caused major disruptions to the way state governments used technology and impacted their technology policies, according to a report by the National Association of State Technology Directors.

Some 75% of states that responded to the survey say the pandemic had an impact on their remote access security, and almost half said they expanded their existing data loss protection technology. The report also says 27% of state governments that responded acquired a new security tool. 

Many states had technology issues during the past year, with 79% saying there was a major impact with the expansion and adoption of remote work, while 58% pointed out network and bandwidth problems.

When asked about the accessibility to reliable, high-speed broadband networks, 39% of those surveyed say their internet bandwidth was sufficient and 34% say there was minimal effort to adjust their bandwidth. Meanwhile, 76% of state government respondents are expecting a permanent increase in telework and a decreased number of staff working in state offices and facilities. 

In regards to network solutions, 61% say they used private methods to accommodate remote application access and 37% say they used a hybrid solution. 

All the measures states introduced impacted their security and governance policies, the survey found: 

• 87% altered remote work equipment/telework policies.
• 74% increased identity management and multi-factor authentication.
• 58% increased employee security training.

Though the pandemic has caused changes with technology and technology policies implemented by state governments, 89% of respondents say that improvements made during the past year have better prepared their states to respond to future pandemics and related issues. 

The survey comes as the Democratic senators introduced a bill that would help states and cities modernize their IT systems and states and private companies are experiencing more attacks on their data systems. 

NASTD distributed its survey to all 50 state central IT authorities in December and 38 states submitted responses. To see more on the research click here.