Livingston transitioning computer systems and cybersecurity operations to an internal department to address growing digital threats.
IT Director Jason Duke said the move allows the municipality to move away from a model relying on three to four different outside contractors. Duke said having an in-house presence helps the city identify where processes need improvement while ensuring hardware and software licensing is managed efficiently.
“The problem, naturally, with contracting, is you’re going to have overlap and underlap issues,” Duke said. “And then also, when someone’s in-house, you develop relationships with the employees to see what people need because you’re there all the time.”
Duke said the city faces constant threats from automated scams and actors attempting to gain access to information through social engineering or business email compromise. These risks target every department including city hall, the airport, and emergency services.
“Now the average hacker tries to infiltrate somewhere and they go and they try to steal information and you don’t even know you’ve been hacked in most cases,” Duke said. “The challenges for Livingston in cybersecurity are that you’ve got foreign actors, you’ve got local actors.”
Livingston is utilizing security awareness training for staff to help them recognize potential threats like poison websites or suspicious emails. Duke said the emergence of artificial intelligence has made these threats more difficult to detect because they are often well-planned and well-architected.
“AI is taking an average hacker and making them an excellent hacker now,” Duke said. “And so the preparation never is going to cease. And AI is a real game changer.”
Duke said being on-site daily allows him to resolve minor technical issues that previously hindered employee productivity. The city is also evaluating how to improve digital offerings such as drive-through services and web-based platforms for residents.
“Being on the inside has enabled me to find dozens and dozens of problems that were minor but all add up and affect people’s productivity during the day,” Duke said. “And I’m trying to work on those issues and try to make staff happier, which in essence makes the citizens get better services because we can do things faster and cheaper.”
The city began the transition by conducting an internal network assessment to identify and resolve vulnerabilities. Duke said the goal is to reduce the risk landscape while ensuring data remains redundant and accessible for departments like police and fire.
“The answer is to try to reduce the threat, the risk landscape we’re looking at, and to try to get services working quickly and to be backed up and redundant, and to be able to provide what the taxpayers of Livingston need quickly and efficiently,” Duke said.
