Bogota named AcceliGOV winner for its cybersecurity vision
08 June 2020
by Sarah Wray
International non-profit Leading Cities and tech firm Blacksands have named Bogota, Colombia as the winner of the 2020 AcceliGOV competition.
Through the annual contest, municipalities worldwide compete for a pre-paid trial of an expert-vetted solution. Bogota will receive a one-year, no-cost pilot of a cybersecurity solution from Blacksands, which in October 2019 was selected from over 500 applications as the winner of Leading Cities’ AcceliCITY competition.
The solution offers increased protection from cyber-attacks by securing remote devices, including VPN connections – of which Bogota has over 200.
Mike Lake, president and CEO of Leading Cities, told Cities Today: “One of the major reasons why Bogota was selected was the incredible leadership, vision and team approach that was demonstrated throughout the review process.”
Success factors
Bogota’s CIO, Oscar Javier Asprilla Cruz, worked with multiple departments across the city, Lake said, commenting: “They had a clear understanding of their current needs to better secure the city, but they are also in the process of developing an entirely new app that would also need to be properly secured.
“Mr Cruz ultimately demonstrated that the city has the vision, leadership, drive and motivation to move forward and those were the key attributes that we were seeking because they, more than just about anything else, determine the success of implementing solutions that strengthen cities and positively impact constituents.”
Exact details of the pilot are not being released due to the sensitive nature of cybersecurity but Blacksands “has placed very few limitations on the options the city will have,” Lake said.
Blacksands has also offered runner-up cities — Bangalore, India; Vilanova i la Geltru, Spain; Jonesboro, USA; and Trikala, Greece — a free 90-day trial of its cybersecurity solution.
Lake noted that a need for better cybersecurity protection within cities was a clear trend from the AcceliGOV applications this year, as was “how non-uniform the accountability/responsibility is from one city to another”.
“Sadly, it is understandable why 70 percent of ransomware attacks in the US, for example, have targeted state and local governments,” he commented. “There is a real need for increased budget, support, awareness and understanding within cities to be adequately protected — especially during times of crisis like we are currently facing.”
City cyber threats
In 2019 alone, governments reported 163 ransomware attacks with more than US$1.8 million in ransoms paid and tens of millions of dollars spent on recovery costs, according to a recent report from Deloitte. This represented an almost 150 percent increase in reported attacks from 2018.
Cities including New Orleans, Baltimore, Riviera Beach, New Bedford, Atlanta and Johannesburg are among those that have been hit by cyber-attacks since 2018.
“For cities all over the world adjusting to new realities forced by COVID-19 creates significant increase in risk and expense,” said Nathan Pawl, CEO, Blacksands. “From a technology perspective, this crisis is requiring cities to make massive changes to maintain continuity of operations. Cities must now move to new approaches to adjust to underlying security strategies and workplace philosophies.”
The application process for the 2020 AcceliCITY programme is open until June 15, and this solution will be offered for the next AcceliGOV competition.
