Article Summary: The Green Garden Township Board is planning a significant upgrade to its cyber security, focusing on migrating its systems to Microsoft 365 and weighing options for professional IT support. The move aims to protect township data, provide reliable email service, and create secure backups for officials, including the assessor’s office.

Township Cyber Security Plan Key Points:

• The board plans to migrate all township email and data to the Microsoft 365 platform for enhanced security and backup capabilities.

• Trustees are debating between two IT support models: a vendor with low monthly fees but high hourly charges for service calls, versus one with a higher monthly cost that includes unlimited support.

• The assessor’s office recently had its firewall device and subscription renewed to ensure its data remains protected.

GREEN GARDEN TOWNSHIP — Following ongoing concerns about digital security, the Green Garden Township Board discussed plans for a comprehensive cyber security upgrade during its workshop meeting on Monday.

Trustee Wesley Shepherd, who is leading the research, said the most essential step is to migrate the township’s email and data to the Microsoft 365 platform. This would provide a baseline level of security, protect against data loss with cloud backups, and standardize systems for all officials.

“Once we get on to Microsoft 365, it would offer… a minimal cyber security, at least for our emails, and use it as a backup,” Shepherd explained. The cost for the service would be around $18 per user per month, but the board would need to hire a professional to handle the initial data migration.

The board also debated the best model for ongoing IT support. Shepherd presented two options from local companies. One vendor, RWK, offers a low monthly rate but charges $200 per hour for any support call, a model Shepherd worried could become costly for simple issues like an email problem. The other option is a more expensive flat monthly fee of around $900, which would include unlimited on-site and remote support for all township officials.

Supervisor Dean Christofilos noted that the assessor’s office, which handles sensitive resident data, recently had its firewall subscription renewed, ensuring that part of the township’s network is secure. The board plans to make a final decision on an IT vendor and the Microsoft 365 migration at an upcoming meeting.