This past June, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law the Texas Cybersecurity Act (HB 8) which calls for advanced review into Texas security systems and data storage. The new law also requires that a plan of action be made by September 2018 detailing how the state will respond to cyberattacks.
In determining how to detect and respond to areas of cyber vulnerability, Texas should consider working with independent third parties such as Israeli cybersecurity firms. In fact, Israel’s cybersecurity specialization has gained world-renown attention over the past few years particularly with Microsoft’s acquisition of Israeli firm Hexadite and U.S. cyber security corporation Symantec’s current $250 million purchase of Tel Aviv-based cyber company Fireglass.
Hexadite, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, has its research and development center in Israel. The firm prides itself with its unique automated response system that combats cyber attacks as soon as they are detected rather than requiring cyber analysts to manually resolve every threat.
Fireglass, on the other hand, is distinguished by its “agentless isolation solution that eliminates ransomware, malware and phishing threats in real-time by preventing potentially harmful content from ever reaching user endpoints or the corporate network.”
This immediacy and innovativeness that characterize Israeli cybersecurity firms is just what is needed to combat the millions of cyberthreats that the Texas government computers and systems encounter each month. Thus,to achieve the end of its current Cybersecurity Act and strengthen economic ties with the Jewish state, Texas should consider starting economic alliances with Israeli cybersecurity firms.
Sources:
Info. over Symantec acquisition of Fireglass: http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-symantec-buys-israeli-co-fireglass-for-250m-1001196036
Summary of Texas Cybersecurity bill: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article134827609.html
Info. over Hexadite:
https://www.hexadite.com/company/history/