South Dakota opens bids in state-funded $7 million cybersecurity effort to protect local governments

South Dakota wants to hire a company to review local governments’ vulnerabilities to hackers.

The request for proposals was announced Monday by Attorney General Marty Jackley’s office. Madison-based Dakota State University (DSU) will review each company’s pitch to “evaluate and optimize firewall configurations” across local government networks. Firewalls are designed to protect computer networks by monitoring traffic across them.

The winning bidder will tap into a $7 million pool of state general funds earmarked by lawmakers last year for cybersecurity. The administration of former Gov. Kristi Noem twice declined to apply for the state’s share of $1 billion in federal grant funding for local cybersecurity. The 2024 bill that created the program came from Sen. Casey Crabtree, R-Madison.

By John Hult,
South Dakota Searchlight