Protecting Hoosiers’ Data

By: Spencer Deery

Last year the Indiana Office of the Attorney General recorded over 1,200 security breaches in our state. Increasingly, these attacks are against local governments and schools. When successful, they lead to fraud, identity theft and other criminal activity.

As a member of the Interim Study Committee on Commerce and Economic Development, I participated in a hearing on Monday to discuss ways state and local governments can work together to protect Hoosiers’ data and personal information. Our committee will make recommendations to protect municipalities, schools and other government entities from such attacks.

By coincidence, the timing of our hearing aligned with Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which highlights the importance of keeping data secure and protecting critical infrastructure from cyber threats.

Another challenge to cybersecurity is that an increasing number of businesses have access to Americans’ personal information. Last session I supported a new law that provides Hoosiers a data privacy “bill of rights” to help them monitor how their data is being used and even have it deleted.

The Indiana Cybersecurity Hub and Emergency Manager Cybersecurity Toolkit provide best practices, tips and resources to keep you protected. For more tools or advice on how to keep your data or your organization’s data protected, visit in.gov/cybersecurity.

– Spencer Deery is an Indiana State Senator serving District 23 which includes Fountain, Parke, Vermillion, Warren and portions of Montgomery and Tippecanoe counties.