8 Security Misconceptions That (Still) Persist in Government Today

It’s no secret that local governments face an uphill battle when it comes to cybersecurity. Aging infrastructure, limited budgets, and small IT teams collide with an increasingly aggressive threat landscape.

Add to that the complexity of navigating state and federal programs, compliance frameworks, and leadership buy-in, and it’s no wonder that certain misconceptions about security exist. These myths are more than just harmless misunderstandings. They leave governments vulnerable.

So, we thought we’d set a few things straight. Here are eight security misconceptions that still trip up governments and what they should be focusing on instead.

Here’s a classic: “Local governments are not a target.”

Ok, this is an old myth that most people have moved past. By now, nearly everyone working in government IT knows they’re a target. No matter how small you are, if you’ve got data and a network, you’re on somebody’s list.

The trouble is that attackers keep getting more efficient. Ransomware-as-a-service and AI-driven phishing campaigns mean that even low-skill attackers can scan the internet for easy victims. And with limited staff, aging infrastructure, and strained budgets, small governments often look like the easiest pickings.

And the real kicker? Interconnectedness. Local governments don’t operate in isolation. They operate within a sprawling network of state and county agencies, school districts, and federal partners. That makes a town of 8,000 residents a potential backdoor into much larger systems.

This ties into another related misconception: that public data doesn’t need protection. Governments often assume that because much of their data is public record, attackers have little incentive to target them. In reality, networks holding public information also contain sensitive records like payroll data, Social Security numbers, or law enforcement files (CJIS, anyone?).

Without proper classification or segmentation of data, one breach can expose everything.

“Since government leaders realize how at-risk they are, they’ll definitely be able to get the resources they need.”

Governments are complicated. While IT and cybersecurity may see what’s going on in the threat landscape, they do not hold the purse strings. To secure budget and resources, they need to talk to the people who do: mayors, county commissioners, and city council members.

And convincing them of the problem? Well, that’s a whole other set of skills. Today’s local government cybersecurity head needs to be almost a renaissance professional. They need:

• The technical acuity to understand risk
• The political and interpersonal skills to win resources from leadership

It’s not enough to be right about threats. Security leaders need to be persuasive. They need to tell the story in a way non-technical decision-makers can understand to strike a balance between hard skills and soft skills.

This is where our Golden Vector comes in. It’s the sweet spot where hard skills and soft skills intersect.

• Hard skills give leaders credibility. They’re technical, logical, and  know what needs to be done to evaluate risks with confidence.
• Soft skills give them influence. They can explain those risks in plain language, build relationships with employees, and persuade leadership to act.

Leaders who operate along this Golden Vector tend to succeed in securing resources. Those who don’t often end up frustrated.

“Cybersecurity is solely the IT team’s responsibility.”

This is one of the most persistent misconceptions in government today. It’s convenient for anyone outside of the IT team, anyway, but misguided.

In reality, human error contributed to 95% of breaches in 2024. To make matters worse, smaller organizations are hit harder than other organizations, facing 350% more social engineering attempts than their larger counterparts.

The Golden Vector is relevant here, too. Technical defenses alone aren’t enough to protect governments. Leaders who balance hard and soft skills are the ones who can:

• Implement frameworks like CIS Controls that embed security practices across the organization, not just in IT.
• Communicate clearly with staff so they understand their role in defending against phishing or credential theft.
• Build a culture of trust where employees aren’t afraid to report suspicious activity.

Put bluntly, you can’t implement CIS Controls without buy-in across the organization. Asset inventories, user training, and least privilege access aren’t IT-only tasks. They require cooperation from operations, HR, finance, and every department in the org chart.

Take Seguin, Texas, for example. It won a CSO50 award for its cybersecurity program. Why? Because their CIO, Shane McDaniel, emphasized security culture. Every new hire went through security onboarding, leaders backed the program, and employees who reported phishing were recognized. As he put it, “This was an organizational award, not an IT award.”

And remember: cybersecurity awareness isn’t a box to tick annually. Threats evolve, employees turnover, and attackers constantly change tactics. Effective programs are ongoing, reinforced, and part of how the organization works every day.

“We can’t afford effective security.”

This is probably the most common reason we hear. And on the surface, it seems accurate. Budgets are stretched thin, and cybersecurity can look like just another line item competing against police cars, textbooks, or pothole repairs.

But the truth is, failing to invest in security is far more expensive. When Maricopa City Colleges was hit with ransomware, recovery chewed up 10-12% of its entire annual budget. That’s money no city or district can afford to lose.

The good news? Security doesn’t have to break the bank. The CIS Controls were designed to give even small organizations a foundation of essential cyber hygiene. They provide protection against the vast majority of common attacks without requiring a Fortune 500 budget.

“Big cybersecurity initiatives at the state and federal level will trickle down easily to local governments.”

The State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) earmarked over a billion dollars for state and local governments. That’s a huge milestone. But for many small governments, it hasn’t meant instant relief.

Here’s the reality:

• Every state handles distribution differently. Some have strong cyber offices and grant programs. Others are still figuring it out.
• Money doesn’t equal results. Even when funding arrives, it usually comes with a pointer back to frameworks like the NIST CSF. Those frameworks still require local effort and skills to implement.
• Smaller municipalities get left behind. Counties and cities with established IT staff are better positioned to write grant proposals and secure funds. The smallest players often don’t have the bandwidth to even apply.

The bottom line is that while federal initiatives are valuable, they don’t trickle down neatly or quickly. Waiting for Washington or the state capitol to solve your cybersecurity challenges is a recipe for disappointment.

That’s why we keep coming back to basics. Implementing the CIS Controls is something you can start today, without waiting for money to arrive. While they seem simple – starting with things like asset inventory and access control – these principles give organizations a wide umbrella of protection, as most threat actors start with the low-hanging fruit.  

“If we implement XYZ, we’ll be 100% protected.”

A false sense of security is common in less cyber-sophisticated organizations. And who can blame them? You don’t know what you don’t know.

The trouble comes when you walk into a city or district and think something like: “We’re good, we just bought this huge firewall, so we’ll be fine.” It happens more often than you might think.

The problem is obvious – there's no single tool that guarantees protection. But the bigger challenge is cultural. Attackers don’t quit because you’ve deployed one solution. They look for what you didn’t cover:

• An unpatched system
• A user who clicked a phishing link
• A misconfigured cloud account

Resilience doesn’t come from one product; it comes from layers:

• Patch management
• Backup testing
• Phishing simulations
• Access controls
• Ongoing monitoring

Again, a trusted vendor here can make all the difference. Smaller government organizations don’t usually have the in-house expertise for cloud implementations, so they need to be able to lean on their vendors to guide the way.

“Our on-prem security strategy has been very effective. We should be fine in the cloud.”

While it feels like a lifetime ago, the pandemic still has far-reaching impacts on modern security. It pushed countless organizations into the cloud. Many assumed their on-prem security strategies would follow them there. They don’t.

• The architecture of cloud environments do not mirror on-prem networks.
• Misconfigured cloud accounts are now one of the leading causes of breaches.
• Hybrid environments are even harder to secure.

In reality, cloud security needs its own playbook:

• MFA everywhere.
• Cloud-aware monitoring.
• Asset inventories that include cloud systems.
• User training specific to cloud risks.

The CIS Controls apply here, too. They’re technology agnostic, which makes them a solid foundation whether you’re on-prem, in the cloud, or
somewhere in between.

“Meeting framework guidelines means we are secure.”

Yes, frameworks like the NIST CSF, CIS Controls, and state-issued playbooks are valuable. They provide structure, help governments prioritize limited resources, and give leaders a way to measure progress.

But compliance doesn’t equal security.

Too often, organizations treat frameworks like audits to pass or binders to show auditors. But attackers don’t care about paperwork. They care about what’s happening on your network, every day.

Frameworks were designed to be living guides, not one-and-done checklists. The governments that succeed use them to:

• Prioritize which controls to tackle first.
• Track progress over time instead of once a year.
• Adapt controls to their actual environment instead of copying them word for word.

However, for smaller governments with lean IT teams, that’s easier said than done. This is why many organizations look to managed security services to help with the “always on” parts of framework adoption – things like monitoring, detection, and response.

Move Beyond the Myths with Nomic Networks

Government cybersecurity isn’t simple. You can’t buy one tool and call it a day. You can’t pass an audit and assume you’re safe. And you certainly can’t afford to believe that security is only the IT team’s problem.

What works is a layered approach: balancing hard and soft skills to secure funding, embedding security across the organization, and making frameworks a living practice instead of a box-ticking exercise. Governments that succeed aren’t necessarily the biggest or best funded – they're the ones that make cybersecurity part of their culture.

That’s where Nomic Networks comes in. Our multi-layered defense is designed to give governments with limited resources the same enterprise-grade protection as the largest organizations.

With autonomous threat defense, Network Cloaking™, real-time visibility, and 24/7 managed network detection and response, we help IT teams do more with less. And with our proactive support and framework alignment, we give you the tools and expertise to move beyond compliance and into resilience.

Security myths hold governments back. Nomic Networks helps you move forward.

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