The Arizona Junior Fellows along with the Arizona State University School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership are collaborating with the American Enterprise Institute to host a panel on cybersecurity titled Cybersecurity and the Future. The event is sponsored by Global Market Innovators.

The focus of the panel will be to discuss how Arizona has adapted to new cybersecurity threats, how those efforts compare to other states and jurisdictions, and how the public and private sectors can work together to prevent cyberattacks and better protect consumer privacy.

National cybersecurity expert Klon Kitchen will join policymakers, business leaders, and university students and faculty for the event. Kitchen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has previously worked at the National Counterterrorism Center and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Joining Klon is Tim Roemer, the director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security. Roemer recently led the effort to create the Cyber Command Center, which serves as the state’s headquarters for cybersecurity operations.

Gregg Davis, the president of Global Market Innovators, and Brian Elisco, the CEO of Tenet-Abrazo will also join the panel. Davis and Elisco will be bringing the business leaders’ perspectives to this cybersecurity conversation.

The event will be moderated by Eileen Klein, the former Arizona treasurer and president emerita of the Arizona Board of Regents, as well as a former healthcare executive.

Cybercrime the world a collective $3 trillion in 2015 and is expected to cost $10.5 trillion by 2025. Arizona has been no stranger to the danger presented by cyber-attacks, as researchers estimate that data breaches from 2005 to 2020 cost the state $1.6 billion. In that time frame Arizona had 181 data breaches, putting more than 10 million records at risk. 

Despite these attacks, Arizona has been for itscommunity-based and cross-sectoral approach to cybersecurity that emphasizes trust and collaboration between government agencies and private companies. 

This includes the recent establishment of the command center, which will serve as Arizona’s headquarters for coordinating cybersecurity operations. 

As more personal data like banking information and medical records are transferred into the digital world, there is an increased risk of cyber-attacks that undermine public and private enterprises. People, companies, and governments are looking for new solutions to rising cybercrime as it becomes a more prominent issue.

About the event

The Future of Arizona Democracy: Cybersecurity and the Future will be hosted from 5:00-6:15 pm at ASU’s Old Main (400 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281) on Monday, March 21, 2022.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is available .This event is a part of the series, “,” which is produced by the Arizona Junior Fellows in partnership with the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. The Arizona Junior Fellows are a project of the Arizona �鶹��ýӳ�� Foundation. They conduct research in a variety of fields in order to communicate important issues to policymakers and business leaders.

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An uptick of coronavirus-themed cyber attacks on hospitals, pharmaceutical laboratories and even the trucking industry in recent weeks reveal the need for businesses to double down on security to ensure their networks are protected, a leading cyber security expert said. 

Many of the attacks were ransomware, holding companies’ network systems hostage until a payout was made. 

Some companies, particularly small and mid-sized businesses, might not survive such an attack, said John Zanni, CEO of Scottsdale-based Acronis SCS, a in edge data security and cyber protection in the U.S. public sector.

“The pandemic has increased impacts on businesses significantly. Unfortunately, many are not equipped to deal with them,” said Zanni, whose company caters to public sector entities including local, state and federal government organizations as well as branches of the U.S. military. 

Zanni strongly advises organizations to beef up network safety. The cost is minimal and today’s technology is highly effective. 

A large organization that has its IT system knocked out can pay in the “hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars” to fly in a forensics firm to fix the damage, Zanni said. For smaller private sector entities, the cost can put them out of commission.

“If someone breaks into your business, you call 911,” he said. “If you call 911 and say, ‘I’m suffering a ransomware attack,’ they don’t know what to do. It’s a big problem.”  

COVID-19 has brought the issue into the limelight as more employees work from home, doctors conduct telemedicine appointments, and online purchases soar.  

Cyber criminals wreaking havoc with the word “corona”

Under COVID-19, cyber criminals are having a field day, honing in on companies in countries like the United States that are in the throes of fighting the virus.

To illustrate the threat, only 190 domain names included the word ‘corona’ last year, Zanni said. In  March, there were more than 30,000.

“Some are legitimate but most of them are not,” he said. “We’ve also seen a 127 percent increase in exposed desktop protocol endpoints. 

“So now we’re all working at home and the bad guys have realized there are a lot of holes in being connected to a corporate network or other business from home systems.”

Anyone with connectivity is at risk. Phishing scams claiming to be from the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization are a common ruse right now. 

Government agencies number one target

While all businesses are at risk, the majority of cyber attackers target government agencies in search of sensitive data, Zanni said. That impacts businesses as well. 

When Baltimore had to shut down operations after a cyber attack last year, companies were unable to carry out everyday transactions like getting permits approved and bills paid. The city lost millions of dollars in potential and delayed revenue. 

Atlanta and New Orleans also were hit by cyber attacks in the past two years, also costing millions of dollars in recovery costs. 

Lawmakers starting to act  

Attacks like these are prompting new state-level policies regarding whether government agencies should be permitted to pay ransoms in ransomware attacks.

Last year, Congress also introduced the to use the federal government’s procurement power by requiring that devices purchased by the U.S. government meet certain minimum security requirements. That could lead the way for manufacturers to include security in all devices. 

It’s one of many cyber security bills awaiting action in Congress.

Concerned over the rash of COVID-19-related threats, a of major tech groups also is asking Congress to allocate a portion of the next coronavirus stimulus bill to help local and state governments to defend against the costly attacks.

All-in-one solution for online security  

Meanwhile, companies can protect themselves with minimal investment in solutions that do more than just block viruses and malware, Zanni said. 

Acronis SCS and its international parent company, Acronis AIG, are the first to provide integrated security features in one package, he said. 

In addition to endpoint security features like anti-malware and anti-ransomware, they provide backup, disaster recovery, storage, and patch management capabilities. While Acronis SCS exclusively serves US public sector organizations, Acronis AIG serves the commercial market. With Acronis AIG, small and medium-sized businesses with a larger server will pay about $1,500 a year. For a home user, the cost is about $50 per year.

Multi-step authentication to become the norm 

In the near future, extra security measures will become the norm, Zanni believes. 

COVID-19 is accelerating the need for it. Gone are the days when people left their doors unlocked and their keys in their cars, he said.

Digital devices are moving in a similar direction, he said. A safe login and password will no longer be sufficient. Dual factor authentication and integrated cyber security protection will become business as usual. 

“This is just as important as locking the doors of your business at night.”

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