MLG hires cyber security aide in fear of ‘crippling’ Russian attacks
On Friday, scandal-ridden alleged serial groper Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced she had hired a new cyber security advisor, Annie Winterfield Manriquez, citing Russian attacks.
According to StateScoop, “Manriquez is tasked with bolstering the state’s cybersecurity posture by working with ‘key stakeholders across government,’ developing statewide standards and ‘best practices for information-sharing, communications, and incident response protocols,’”
Lujan Grisham claimed her new hire was because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with “state-sponsored cyber attacks targeting critical infrastructure in the U.S.” She said that “potentially crippling Russian cyberattacks” could target New Mexico.
“As the current geopolitical situation in Ukraine devolves and state-sponsored cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure in the U.S. grow more sophisticated, the White House and federal agencies responsible for cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection have called for states to take immediate steps to strengthen their defenses against potentially crippling Russian cyberattacks,” her news release read.
“New Mexico holds the distinction of being the first state this year where a local government disclosed being hit by a successful ransomware attack. On Jan. 5, Bernalillo County, New Mexico, reported an incident that led to extended disruptions of numerous services and functions, including an outage of technology used by the county jail, prompting officials to keep inmates in lockdown,” the report continued.
Manriquez worked at the Mitre Corporation, a federally funded research and development group. She also previously worked at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars and the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
“A robust cybersecurity framework has never been more important, and we are already seeing more sophisticated cyberattacks being carried out in New Mexico and the rest of the country,” said Gov. Lujan Grisham. “It is critical that the state continue to take action to make sure we are as prepared and protected as possible, and Annie is the leader the state needs.”
This comes as Lujan Grisham’s departments have had abysmal security measures, with IPRA requests provisioning login credentials and countless records being deleted by important departments, such as the Children, Youth, and Families (CYFD) Department which deals with sensitive data regarding minors.
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