Local government cyber insecurity: Causes and recommendations for improvement

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Local Government Cyber Insecurity Revisions.pdf (300.76 KB)

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https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/puar.13743

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https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13743
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/30801

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UMBC School of Public Policy
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UMBC Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis & Research (MIPAR)
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https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7997-5137
 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5540-8308

Date

2023-10-02

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journal articles
postprints
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Citation of Original Publication

Norris, Donald F., Mateczun, Laura, Hatcher, William, Meares, Wesley L., and Heslen, John. 2023. “Local Government Cyber Insecurity: Causes and Recommendations for Improvement.” Public Administration Review 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13743

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This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Norris, Donald F., Mateczun, Laura, Hatcher, William, Meares, Wesley L., and Heslen, John. 2023. “Local Government Cyber Insecurity: Causes and Recommendations for Improvement.” Public Administration Review 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13743, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13743. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
Access to this item will begin on 10-02-2025.

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Abstract

In this paper, we address several facets of the problem we call local government cyber insecurity – a problem that plagues such governments across the nation, if not the world. We describe this problem and discuss its manifestations in local governments. This is followed by our analysis of why, on average, local government cybersecurity is managed and practiced so poorly. Next, we discuss several constraints on local governments that may help to explain why so many of these governments are not able to provide highly effective cybersecurity. We then discuss steps that local governments can and should take to improve their cybersecurity, including adopting dedicated cybersecurity budgets, adopting several highly recommended cybersecurity policies, and following best cybersecurity practices.