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Akron City Council Member Wants Better Cyber Security for the City

Akron City Hall
Akron City Council
Akron City Hall

Akron 4th Ward Councilman Russ Neal wants the city to consider going to the cloud to protect itself from cyber criminals. And he says the best way to do that is to partner with a major tech firm capable of setting it up.

Rus Neal
Credit TIM RUDELL / WKSU
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WKSU
Russel Neal, 4th Ward Akron City Council

Russ Neal says the January 22nd attack in which hackers went after key city systems, and tried to capture some with ransomware, showed how vulnerable local government can be. He says it’s too vulnerable for local security to guard.  “We don’t have, and we will never have, the manpower nor the technology to keep up with these kinds of assaults," Neal said. "But the big guys, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon and Google, that’s their business.”

Neal wants to open talks with the major players in the cyber world who have the means to create reliable security against tech crime. He also says the four he is suggesting have programs specifically for local governments.