Author Archives: Sydney Pujadas

The landscape of cybersecurity threats is undergoing swift and continuous transformation. State and local governments, as well as federal agencies, face increasing pressure to enhance their cybersecurity programs under frameworks such as FedRAMP, StateRAMP, Zero Trust, NIST 800-53, and others. 

In order to meet these standards and those still to come, various government funding programs have been put in place to offer organizations the opportunity to modernize their cybersecurity practices and mitigate incoming threats as effectively as possible. 

How can you navigate the funding opportunities available to you? Leverage Thrive’s services to help break down the complexity of this process and help you find the programs that best fit your organization. 

For State and Local Governments

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)

• Thrive understands that state and local governments require robust cybersecurity solutions to protect their critical infrastructure as well as civilian and government data. Through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), significant federal aid is available to support cybersecurity investments such as leveraging big-data analytics and around-the-clock insights to prove cybersecurity compliance across all major frameworks and strategies. By leveraging Thrive’s expertise in software and critical infrastructure protection, organizations can modernize their cybersecurity programs and effectively secure their assets.

State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP)

• Another vital funding source for state and local governments is the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP). Comprehensive cybersecurity planning is essential for addressing risks and threats effectively. Thrive can collaborate with organizations to develop a robust cybersecurity plan that aligns with the requirements of the SLCGP. With Thrive’s support, governments can leverage applicable security programs within the Department of Homeland Security, ensuring compliance and proactive security measures.

For Federal Agencies 

Technology Modernization Fund (TMF)

• For federal agencies, it is a top priority to enhance cybersecurity across government networks to ensure the safety of critical systems as well as the protection of Personal Identifiable Information (PII). The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) serves as a valuable resource to address urgent IT modernization challenges and bolster cybersecurity measures. By leveraging TMF funding, agencies can accelerate information technology-related projects that improve cybersecurity and secure sensitive government systems. Agencies can work with Thrive to take advantage of such funding opportunities, ensuring the adoption of the proper frameworks to transform reactive cybersecurity practices into a proactive cybersecurity strategy that ensures ongoing protection. 

Leverage Thrive to Meet Your Needs

At Thrive, we understand the significance of federal funding sources in modernizing cybersecurity practices for state and local governments, as well as federal agencies. By leveraging ARPA, SLCGP, and TMF, organizations can close their budgetary gaps and meet today’s threat management challenges, adhere to increasingly complex compliance obligations, and strengthen risk mitigation long-term.

Thrive encourages organizations to maximize the benefits of these funding opportunities. By partnering with Thrive, specifically our vCISO and vCIO services, government entities can navigate the federal funding landscape with confidence, effectively modernize their cybersecurity programs, and ensure the protection of critical infrastructure. Together, we can maximize your security potential, contact Thrive and book a consultation to learn more.

Cybercriminals have upped their game as security teams look to meet new challenges. Oftentimes, these teams are led by a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), but finding the right person to fill that role has been a challenge.

We saw a rise in the need for CISOs as COVID-19 introduced a sharp increase in cybercrime. In a 2021 IDG report, it was reported 78% of executives expressed a lack of confidence in their organization’s ability to deal with cyber risk. This confidence gap highlighted the need to have the right expertise in place to maintain a strong security posture in a world with unexpected and increasing cyber-attacks accompanied by constantly changing regulations.

No matter the size of your business, it’s imperative that cyber threats aren’t ignored. From large corporations to start-up businesses, there is vital information in play that can be hacked at any moment. For mid-market enterprises that need a strategic vision behind their cybersecurity efforts, it’s often impossible to find and/or afford a CISO, leaving them directionless in a fast-moving threat environment.  

To combat the CISO shortage, many companies have tapped into outsourced CISO services. It’s important to know the difference between your options, and what they can do for you. Fractional CISOs are part-time, on-site chief information security officers there to maintain a company’s cybersecurity as well as other IT roles within and/or outside the company. Virtual CISOs (vCISO) are outsourced, off-site security resources for businesses that can’t/don’t want to hire cybersecurity personnel as payroll employees or do not require a full-time, dedicated resource based on the needs of their organization. They collaborate with key organizational leadership to formalize cybersecurity policy, mitigate cyber risk through technical solution, and ongoing validation and improvement of cybersecurity programs.

 A fractional CISO might be more equipped to handle low cyber risk organizations while vCISOs have a wide breadth of expertise from a variety of mature clients. This results in vCISOs having access to the latest resources and their ability to deliver increased knowledge regarding current industry trends and regulations.

It’s important to consider which CISO service is best for your business, but in our eyes, the obvious choice is to engage in a vCISO service that offers exceptional benefits: promised cost savings, access to the latest and greatest technology and resources, and unmatched expertise in industry regulations (healthcare, financial services, legal, etc.).  Most importantly, a qualified cybersecurity resource like a vCISO will guarantee a proactive approach to cyber risk mitigation and provide your organization with the appropriate level of protection in today’s cyber landscape.

At Thrive, we emphasize the importance of maintaining a security posture through our comprehensive vCISO services: 

• Industry-leading information security program management
• Thrive’s vCISO serves as a trusted security advisor
• Information security governance and compliance oversight
• Information security program reviews
• Review of existing policies, controls, and security toolsets
• IT Management remediation plans
• Prioritized improvements for IT Management
• Incident response preparedness and annual incident response table-top exercise
• Center for Internet Security (CIS) framework implementation

Consider Thrive for your vCISO needs and learn more about our vCISO service and how our security-first NextGen Managed Services can help your organization.

Every day, students are busy learning new subjects and should be focused on achieving their academic goals, not worrying about their data privacy. School districts and private educational institutions have been making the switch to Cloud platforms as a way to keep up with the ever-evolving tech landscape students are facing. A key component in adding these new Cloud-based applications and services is the protection of student data from an increasing number of targeted attacks from cybercriminals. 

However, with the rise of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and other generative AI tools, schools have a new set of vulnerabilities to be concerned about. Currently, there is no way to determine whether or not students’ personal information is being used in a ChatGPT algorithm or other apps that may be used in a classroom setting that require access to different data on school computers or personal computers owned by students. It was also discovered that a majority of educational institutions use various tracking technologies and share students’ personal information with third parties, which could include generative AI tools, increasing a potential privacy breach. 

In the U.S., students’ information is protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and educational institutions have a duty to protect students’ personally identifiable information (PII). Federal funding is available to help support these initiatives as well. 

Having a fail-safe approach to protecting students’ privacy is the best way educational institutions can mitigate cybersecurity risk and eliminate threats. Understanding students’ risk exposure and proactively scanning for threats and vulnerabilities can help K-12 schools remain in compliance with FERPA and other privacy standards.

Finding a Privacy Protection Partner for Your School

Thrive’s Managed Security Information and Event Management allows schools to meet stringent compliance thresholds, and have security threat detection without the need for specialized security staff or costly dedicated hardware.

Keeping students and their data safe is a top priority, and with Thrive, you can assess your vulnerabilities and plan for the future. Hybrid and remote learning will continue to be a major part of the learning environment, along with the increased use of apps in the classroom or to assist with homework and projects.

Take the next steps to equip your school with the latest technology, software, and training towards protecting your students and their data, as well as be an active collaborator capable of adding value to your school’s IT department. Contact Thrive to learn more.