100% of Georgia Counties Join Cybersecurity Protection Group

Every Georgia county has joined a national cybersecurity-protection organization, the first state with more than 100 counties to do so, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced last week.

At Raffensperger’s urging, the counties joined the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing Analysis Center, or EI-ISAC, which is a part of the Center for Internet Security, considered the go-to resource for cyber threat prevention, protection, response, and recovery for federal, state and local government.

The Center for Internet Security has been a leader in providing cybersecurity best practices for more than a decade.

“Election security is the first goal for me and for our local partners, the counties that actually run elections in Georgia. So, I’m proud that every county has demonstrated that commitment by following my recommendation to join EI-ISAC,” Raffensperger said. “Their membership means they will get up-to-date information on threats, training and resources for mitigating any attack. And that’s good news for Georgia’s voters.”

Announced in 2018, EI-ISAC helps the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office and election officials in other states to collect, analyze and disseminate threat data. It also provides the tools and guidance to address those threats.

Membership comes with election-specific threat intelligence, threat and vulnerability monitoring, penetration testing, training, promotion of best practices, and automated threat-indicator sharing.

The EI-ISAC coordinates with federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the National Cybersecurity & Communications Integration Center.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office urged counties to join EI-ISAC. To combat cyber threats, Raffensperger’s office also has partnered with the Cyber Center at Augusta University, other educational institutions in the state and federal organizations like the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

To educate voters on ways Georgia is protecting election integrity, Raffensperger launched Secure the Vote. More information is online at SecureVoteGa.com.

This is a press release from the Georgia Secretary of State.