Gov. Doug Ducey today launched Arizona’s new Cyber Command Center at a ceremony at the Department of Public Safety’s Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC) in Phoenix.
The Cyber Command Center will be Arizona’s headquarters for coordinating statewide cybersecurity operations and will be a central location for cybersecurity professionals and local, state, and federal agencies to prevent and respond to cyberattacks.
The program, previously called the Arizona Cyber Information Program, is being renamed the Arizona Information Sharing and Analysis Center (AZ-ISAC). State agencies will use this center to increase information sharing between one another.
Ducey stated, “Cybersecurity is homeland security. Our society is becoming increasingly interconnected through technology, and cybersecurity has become one of the most important issues facing Arizona. This new command center will be critical in protecting Arizonans and ensuring our cyber infrastructure remains safe and secure. I’m hopeful that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will recognize the success of these partnerships on cybersecurity and begin to treat border security just as seriously.”
The Governor was joined by Tim Roemer, Director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security and Chief Information Security Officer; Colonel Heston Silbert, Director of the Department of Public Safety; Andy Tobin, Director of the Department of Administration; and Adjutant General Kerry Muehlenbeck, Director of the Department of Emergency and Military Affairs.
Gov. Ducey appointed Roemer, who championed the effort to launch the command center, as Director of the Department of Homeland Security in April. He recommended combining the state’s cybersecurity mission with the Department of Homeland Security to better protect Arizona from increasing cybersecurity risks.
Roemer posted on Twitter, “Thank you Governor @dougducey, I’m honored to be your Director of Homeland Security. By prioritizing Cybersecurity as a Homeland Security mission we are going to be in a stronger position to protect our state and our citizens. Your leadership on this will be a nationwide example.”
According to the governor’s office, the Arizona Department of Homeland Security detected and alerted on approximately 68 million threats and protected state websites from over 800,000 attacks in September alone.
In March 2018, Governor Ducey issued an executive order creating the Arizona Cybersecurity Team. The group was made up of experts from state, local, and federal government, the private sector, and higher education, working together to protect Arizonans from cyberattacks.
