Are you aware of your council’s cybersecurity risks?

While looking for opportunities for members to improve their digital literacy and data maturity, LGAQ launched a cybersecurity maturity assessment in September 2021, partnering with Cybermetrix to provide the free check. LGMS is working closely with LGAQ on this journey as it wants to ensure that councils can appropriately manage their risks while continuing to deliver critical services and functions for their local communities.

The online assessment takes less than an hour and investigates the eight critical areas of cyber risk management including your council’s ability to detect intrusion, the identification of your digital assets, and your council’s ability to respond to and recover from a cybersecurity threat. The audit gives councils valuable insights into their cybersecurity strength and which areas require action.

The key goal of this review is to understand for the Queensland local government sector what risks are out there, where our cybersecurity knowledge level is sitting and how we can improve it. The one-hour online assessment provides recommendations for each council on improving cybersecurity risk and maturity and the outcomes are practical and in an understandable language. 

Once the individual reports are finalised, there is the potential to develop an industry-wide sector report highlighting key trends, benchmarking, and opportunities for improvement—all anonymous and without naming specific councils.

It is not too late to register your council for the Cybermetrix analysis. Contact the LGAQ’s Chief Digital Officer Tracy Whitelaw to register your interest at tracy_whitelaw@lgaq.asn.au. Cybermetrix will release its recommendation reports in early 2022 and we look forward to sharing those insights with you.