Podcast
Beyond the SIEM: Network Visibility for Municipal Cybersecurity - Season 2, Ep. 1
Our Take
It’s a common refrain from small municipalities: how do we provide robust cybersecurity protection with limited resources and budget? The City of Newton, Kansas, has just two IT staff members supporting 230 employees and serving 20,000 residents. The team wanted better visibility into their network and needed to enhance their protection against evolving threats. But the solution couldn’t strain their budget or require extensive manpower. To kick off Season 2 of Cybersecurity on the Front Lines, IT Director Brenda Ternes and Cybersecurity Architect Nathan Wallace share how they navigated the critical selection process.
Episode Table of Contents
- 01:14 Meet the Team from Newton, Kansas
- 04:34 Challenges of Municipal IT
- 07:24 Strategies for Cybersecurity in Local Government
- 10:30 The Importance of Collaboration in IT
- 16:01 Exploring the Cybersecurity Stack
- 18:56 Innovative Solutions for Network Security
- 20:15 The Journey to Implementing a SIEM
- 21:26 Achieving Network Visibility with Insight
- 26:42 Reporting and Demonstrating Value
- 29:04 Supplementing a SIEM with Insight
- 30:02 Addressing Alert Fatigue
Key Takeaways
- Local governments face unique challenges, including budget constraints.
- Managed services are crucial for smaller organizations.
- Collaboration within the IT community is vital for growth.
- Alert fatigue is a real concern, but visibility tools help mitigate it.
