Lee Trawick
Reporter2@riverbendnews.org
On Thursday, March 16, Florida Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez arrived at the Suwannee County Judicial Annex, located at 218 Parshley St. SW, in Live Oak. Lt. Governor Nuñez was accompanied by Suwanee County Sheriff Sam St. John to announce Florida has taken the initiative by investing over $30 million in cybersecurity grants. With the passing of Bill 5301 in 2019 by the Florida Legislation, the Florida Cybersecurity Task Force has been a major focal point for Governor Ron DeSantis and Lt. Governor Nuñez. Therefore, Lt. Governor Nuñez was excited to provide the opportunity for counties throughout Florida to better equip themselves against the growing danger of digital warfare.
In today's world, where everything is run through programs, cyber-terrorism has rapidly grown closer and closer to everyone's front steps. Sheriff St. John revealed that Suwannee County faces nearly 200 computer hacks per day. At the same time, the county has been able to block the attacks before they can infiltrate the county's programs. The new task force will now be alerted across Florida, whereas in the past, each county was its own entity. All 67 counties will be connected to the same program, which is a sign of Florida being proactive in the fight against cyber-terrorism. The program is also charged with the task of looking into each county's cybersecurity prevention programs for possible weak spots, and to find room for improvement and better ways to protect their infrastructure.
Florida is the leader in cyber-terrorism, and expects to set the standard for the rest of the country. Lt. Governor Nuñez has been at the forefront of the program since its infancy in 2019.
The task force will be expected to be proactive in deploying proper resources to mitigate risk and, ultimately, better secure Florida digital assets as a whole.