Texas Political NewsTexas Lobbyist
Texas Wins National Cybersecurity Award
For Immediate Release
October 24, 2012

CONTACT: Thomas Johnson
Department of Information Resources
512-936-6592

State of Texas Wins National Cybersecurity Award
Texas Department of Information Resources Named Tops in Cybersecurity Leadership & Innovation

Las Vegas—The winners of the 2012 Cybersecurity Leadership & Innovation Awards were announced last evening. The awards program — hosted by the Center for Digital Government, the research and advisory arm of Government Technology’s parent company, and underwritten by McAfee — recognizes government and education agencies for their efforts in the field of cybersecurity technology services.

The award recipients, which were chosen by an evaluation committee, were recognized during an awards dinner and ceremony at the annual McAfee FOCUS conference on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) was named the Leadership and Innovation winner in the State Government Category.

“As CIO for the State of Texas and Executive Director of DIR, I am extremely proud of the DIR team and their accomplishments,” said Karen Robinson. “The positive feedback we receive from other state agencies confirms what this award has recognized—Cybersecurity is one of the top priorities of our state.”

When asked to highlight what cybersecurity efforts contributed to winning the award, John Hoffman, DIR’s Director of Communications Technology Services Division, commented, “Our migration to a Security Event and Threat Analysis (SETA), cloud-based platform has allowed 24-hour/seven-day-a-week security monitoring. While DIR is grateful for this award, the program has been a team effort, from executive sponsorship, state agency participation, and our vendor partner, AT&T. Our goals going forward include expanding the SETA outreach to other entities, and continuing our research into customer needs and helping them meet their challenges in a safe and secure environment.”

The other Cybersecurity Leadership & Innovation Award winners announced include:

  • NYC Department of Information Technology & Telecommunications – City Government Category
  • Georgia State University – Education Category
  • City of Tampa Technology & Innovation Information Security Office – Special Award
  • Seattle Metropolitan Area – Collaboration Award
  • Corey Cush, AVP Infrastructure Services, NYC Health and Hospitals Corp. – Leadership Award

 

The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) promotes a shared vision for Texas that maximizes the value of the State’s technology investment by identifying common areas of interest, using technology to advance agency missions, and preserving flexibility to innovate. Visit DIR at www.dir.texas.gov.