Branstad Calls For State Agencies To Develop Cyber Security Plan
(Des Moines) — Governor Terry Branstad has issued an executive order that calls on state agencies to draft a “cyber security” strategy. In addition, the governor is asking his Homeland Security agency to update its emergency response plan to “deal with the physical consequences of a cyber attack on critical infrastructure” like the electrical grid, water supplies or transportation networks.
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Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds says a year ago the governor assembled a working group to discuss ways for state government and the private sector in Iowa to “prevent, detect, respond and recover” from a cyber attack.
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State officials say there is no “credible threat” they know of today, but they’re mum about whether previous threats have been thwarted. In 2012, a hacker in another country tapped into South Carolina’s computer servers and got access to more than three-and-a-half million Society Security numbers belonging to South Carolina taxpayers. In the past few years there have been data breaches at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa, but the governor’s executive order on cyber security does not apply to the three Regents universities. Branstad’s order only applies to executive branch agencies. Branstad’s chief information officer will work with administrators from the Iowa National Guard, the Iowa Department of Public Safety, the Iowa Communications Network and the state’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department to come up with a cyber security report by July 1st.
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Iowa State University Extension To Host “Crop Advantage Meetings”
(Le Mars) — 2016 may prove to be an interesting economic year for farmers as they see commodity prices continue on a downward trend. The question is, how can farmers maximize their outputs and production, while trying to minimize their rising input costs? Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will host a series of crop advantage meetings across Iowa addressing that issue. Joel DeJong, extension crops specialists says two well-known and respected Iowa State University specialists are scheduled to speak at Sheldon on January 5th.
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DeJong says the crop advantage meetings will look at various different aspects of a farming operation and will make suggestions to farmers as how they can operate their farming business, while looking at small margins.
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DeJong says the more ways farmers can reduce their costs will definitely help the farmer’s bottom line, but he says farmers can’t cut things that create a huge risk. He says trying to balance risk versus reduced costs will be the focus of many sessions during the crop advantage meetings. Other meetings in northwest Iowa are as scheduled: January 6th at Okoboji, January 12th at Storm Lake, January 26th at Le Mars, and January 28th at Carroll. Registration fees are $50 a person. Farmers can go online to find a meeting scheduled for their location.
