Lawmakers urged to move to a centralized cybersecurity system in Mississippi to protect from attacks

Lawmakers pressed to move to a.

Key points

• Experts informed the Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity on Tuesday that doing so would provide cost savings and provide uniformity in protecting the state's data.
• Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians receives $12 million in federal grants to expand economic development drivers.
• The former head of the Mississippi Development Authority retired from state service at the end of September.
• Huntington Bank investing over $40 million to modernize Tupelo operations center, regional headquarters.
• 13 Mizzou, QB Simmons and WR Lee ready to face former teammates at No.

Lawmakers pressed to move to a centralized cybersecurity system in Mississippi to protect from attacks. By: Jeremy Pittari – October 14, 2026.

Experts informed the Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity on Tuesday that doing so would provide cost savings and provide uniformity in protecting the state's data. Mandating that local governments report cyberattacks to the state was additionally suggested.

With cyberthreats increasing and attacks taking place in the state of Mississippi, the state Senate Select Committee on Cybersecurity heard from a panel of security experts Tuesday to prepare for the introduction of potential legislation in the upcoming session.

Some of the ways the committee was advised to proceed include moving the state's cyber infrastructure into a more consolidated system that uses the same vendors, hardware and software to prevent attacks. There were additionally talk of state agencies offering access to those same services to cities, counties, the education sector, and utilities such as water and sewer.

Cyberattacks on state agencies and local governments have already occurred this year, including at the Institutions of Higher Learning, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, and dozens of others.

"You're coming off 36 hours of 70 entities in the state of Mississippi that were hit on one third party vendor, " Senator Tyler McCaughn (R), the committee's co-chair, described to the panel. "You're coming off of UMMC. You're coming off of IHL. You're coming off Vicksburg and Madison County. You're coming off of everything that we could see go wrong, that you informed us was going to happen, is now here."

Notably, the committee was created by Lt. Governor Delbert Hosemann (R) this year to address the ever-increasing threats that the internet, artificial intelligence and other aspects of a connected life create.

"Cyber threats are evolving, and Mississippi has to be prepared, " Lt. Governor Hosemann remarked Tuesday. "With multiple recent cyber breaches and millions of dollars being stolen through Mississippians financial information being hacked, the time is now to sound the alarm and act."

Greg Mallette with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency informed the committee that last year there were concerning 1 million complaints received by the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) website. Those complaints equated to more than $20 billion in total losses. It is a 26% growth from 2024.

Typically, individuals 60 or older are more probable to fall victim to cybersecurity breaches or fraud. That age group was regarding 200, 000 of the 1 million complaints, totaling $7.7 billion of the $20 billion in losses.

Meanwhile, the threats to a network come in various forms, such as insider attacks, acts of terrorism, cyberattack, extreme weather events, and accidental technical failures. The biggest threats to a state's data are extortion groups that utilize ransomware to convince an agency to pay funds to retrieve what was stolen.

To best prepare for those instances, a number of of the panelists suggested the state work toward centralizing a substantial part of its network into one office, if feasible. It would not only lead to a universal employ of one vendor, and uniformity amongst the state's various agencies, but a potential for cost savings as well.

Mississippi has some ground to cover to ensure cybersecurity due to the employ of legacy computer systems, outdated security protocols, and the lack of trained security personnel to meet the growing demand.

Mallette observed the apply of unmonitored remote backing software. It creates fragile points in the system hackers can exploit. He suggested the immediate employ of two factor authentication and creation and maintenance of isolated backups. While a recent backup stored off the internet will prevent the need to pay ransomware attacks, two factor authentication would prevent up to 80% of all automated credential shuffling attempts.

"Building cybersecurity throughout Mississippi is not a one-time project. It's an ongoing commitment to hygiene, communication and readiness, " Mallette described.

Funding will play a part in how the state updates its level of protection. Bobby Freeman, Director of the Mississippi Cyber Unit, remarked federal funding has concluded, and what has been procured already will need to be spent by 2029. He, too, asked lawmakers to consider setting a centralized system for investigating incidents and creating mandates for local agencies and governments to report attacks within a limited timeframe, such as within 48 hours.

"We lack, currently, a single, codified, whole-of-state cyber authority to command statewide incidents across all jurisdictions, " Freeman explained.

Since a faster response time increases the ability to identify the perpetrator, coordination between his office and other agencies is critical when considering response times. At present, local agencies and governments are not required to report attacks to the state. That can negatively impact the subsequent investigation and feasible prosecution since the attacker can cover their tracks or the IT professional on staff may accidentally delete crucial information in their attempts to restore service.

"So, the sooner we get law enforcement involved, the sooner we can get forensics involved, the more likely that we can trace it to an initial intrusion vector and figure out where the attack came from and how it happened, not just that it happened, " Freeman continued.

Another aspect of cybersecurity involves protection from, and the employ of, artificial intelligence. Doug Robinson, executive director of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, informed the Senate committee that AI is increasing the number and severity of cybersecurity threats.

Furthermore, Robinson remarked Mississippi needs to focus on recruiting more residents trained in disciplines that can secure the state's data, by both using AI and establishing protections against AI. This workforce need is a priority since the ever-increasing advancements in the technology are outpacing protections.

"The nation states and criminals and bad actors are always a step ahead in their investments, " Robinson remarked. "And this is particularly the case in business e-mail compromises and particularly, highly sophisticated phishing attacks which mimic a state's e-mail domain. And they look just like an e-mail that may have come from state administration agencies directing an employee to do something."

His suggestion for a centralized system included the state's higher education institutions, K-12 schools, and water and sewer systems.

"We've seen that within the incidents, just in the last 6 months, directed at water and wastewater systems of municipalities, " Freeman continued. "They are at risk." Regarding the Author(s).

Jeremy Pittari is a lifelong resident of the Gulf Coast. Born and raised in Slidell, La., he moved to South Mississippi in the early 90s. Jeremy earned an associate in arts from Pearl River Community College and went on to attend the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor's of arts in journalism. A week after Hurricane Katrina, he began an internship as a reporter with the community newspaper in Pearl River County. After graduation, he accepted a full-time position at that news outlet where he covered the recovery process post Katrina in Pearl River and Hancock Counties. For almost 17 years he wrote concerning local administration, education, law enforcement, crime, business and a variety of other topics. Email Jeremy: [email protected].

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Taken together, the developments around lawmakers urged to move to a centralized cybersecurity system in Mississippi to point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.