Puerto Rico announces $7.6M cybersecurity program

July 6, 2022

StateScoop

The government of Puerto Rico on Wednesday announced plans for major cybersecurity upgrades across the island territory. The $7.6 million program includes building out a security operations center at the Puerto Rico Innovation and Technology Service and implementing protective services including endpoint detection, event logging and firewalls.

The new services will be provided through the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, the cybersecurity resource organization that supports state and local governments. The new plan also puts PRITS in charge of cybersecurity for the entirety of the commonwealth government, which officials said puts Puerto Rico ahead of other U.S. jurisdictions in establishing “whole-of-state” policies.

“This new effort positions Puerto Rico at a level well above compared to other jurisdictions in cybersecurity matters and matches us with the most competitive areas of the private sector,” PRITS’ interim executive director, Nannette Martínez Ortiz, said in a press release.