Municipal Cybersecurity: More Work Needs to be Done

TitleMunicipal Cybersecurity: More Work Needs to be Done
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsPreis, B, Susskind, L
JournalUrban Affairs Review
Abstract

As governments have digitized their operations, they have opened themselves to cyberattacks, resulting in harmful disruptions to government services. The scholarly world has been slow to pick up on this growing risk. Professional associations have conducted studies of their own, and produced recommendations, but few scholars have looked closely at cybersecurity practices at the municipal level. The interconnectedness of local infrastructure—across and among agencies and levels of government—makes it hard to figure out what is happening. In this paper, we urge scholars from multiple disciplines to examine the dangers created by the cross-linkages that characterize local cybersecurity. We examine the existing academic research, and demonstrate the significant growth in cybersecurity practice that has cropped up in spite of the relative sparsity of academic work. Theory and practice need to catch up with each other.

URLhttps://doi.org/10.1177/1078087420973760
DOI10.1177/1078087420973760
Short TitleUrban Affairs Review