Cybersecurity threats constitute the top trend affecting government communications, a recent survey of local councils and leaders revealed.

In Vision’s 2018 research brief titled “What’s Next in Digital Communications for Local Government,” more than one-quarter (27 percent) ranked cybersecurity threats as the top factor influencing how their government communicates and operates. Citizen engagement ranked slightly lower among survey participants at 24 percent, followed by social media at 13 percent.

Cybersecurity Is Top of Mind for Government Leaders

These concerns help explain why security is at the top of respondents’ minds for 2018: 41 percent of surveyed parties told Vision, a service that builds, develops and hosts websites for local governments, that minimizing cybersecurity risk is among their top priorities for the year, behind only expanding citizen engagement (66 percent), and improving web accessibility and adherence to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 (53 percent).

David Nachman, general manager of content management solutions for Vision, said these considerations among local government leaders reflect the concerns of their constituents.

“It’s clear that local agencies are well aware of the rising expectations of their increasingly digital and mobile citizens who now demand the same level of accessibility, security and efficiency they enjoy in the private sector,” Nachman wrote in an article on GCN.

Cybersecurity Threats: A Persistent Problem

The Vision report underscored persistent cybersecurity challenges confronting governments. According to Netwrix’s “2017 IT Risks Report,” 65 percent of governments said they suffered a breach in 2016. Only 26 percent said they felt prepared to defend their data against cyberthreats.

At the same time, nearly half of government employees that responded to a recent Dtex survey said they take no responsibility for cybersecurity. Even worse, one-third of participants said they believe they are more likely to be struck by lightning than to suffer a data breach.

To address these ongoing issues, Dtex advised governments to adopt a layered approach to cyberdefense that consists of building a positive security culture in the workplace and using intelligent, automated data protection tools.