Tax bills, 911 calls, and water‑plant sensors can’t wait for a reboot. Yet 58 % of U.S. state and local governments were hit by ransomware in 2024 — the highest share of any public‑sector vertical.Varonis Recovery now averages $2.83 million per incident, more than double 2023 levels.Sophos News A Managed Service Provider (MSP) that speaks CJIS, IRS Pub 1075, and FEMA grant rules keeps your critical services—and community trust—online around the clock.
IT Pain Points That Hit Local Governments Hard
| Challenge | Real‑World Impact |
|---|---|
| 24/7 citizen services | CAD, utility billing, or election portals fail and erode public trust. |
| Ransomware surge | 98 % of government ransomware attacks now achieve data encryption.Sophos News |
| Legacy & siloed apps | Old AS/400 finance systems won’t talk to cloud permitting, causing double entry. |
| Compliance stack (CJIS, EMTALA, IRS 1075) | Missed controls trigger audits, fines, or federal funding delays. |
| Tight budgets & long procurements | Refresh cycles lag; staff can’t patch fast enough. |
| Expanding IoT footprint | Traffic lights, body‑worn cams, and smart meters widen the attack surface. |
Seven Ways an MSP Gives Counties & Cities the Edge
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24 × 7 SOC + SIEM Monitoring
Correlates logs across on‑prem servers, cloud apps, and SCADA to block threats in real time. -
CJIS‑Compliant Zero‑Trust Access
MFA‑protected portals let sworn officers reach RMS/JMS systems without risky VPN tunnels. -
Redundant Connectivity for Emergency Services
SD‑WAN with dual fiber/LTE keeps PSAPs, fire stations, and field laptops online during fiber cuts. -
Immutable Backup & Rapid Recovery
Hourly, air‑gapped snapshots restore key systems in <15 minutes—before council meetings start. -
Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR)
AI stops ransomware in milliseconds and automatically rolls back encrypted files. -
Predictable Flat‑Rate Support
Aligns with fiscal‑year budgets; no surprise break/fix bills mid‑grant cycle. -
vCIO & Grant Guidance
Road‑maps tech refreshes around ARPA, IIJA, and DHS funding windows.
The Hidden Cost of “Good‑Enough” Uptime
Large enterprises now lose $300 k + per hour of downtime, and public‑sector outages ripple across emergency response and revenue collection.Itic Corp Pair that with the $4.88 million global average breach cost in 2024 and the risk of ransomware‑forced shutdowns becomes clear.IBM – United States Proactive monitoring and hardened networks cost a fraction of one day’s closed courthouse or offline 911 center.