Yes, but it requires planning, clear policies, and often outside support. Many Pennsylvania boroughs and townships partner with co-managed IT providers or regional support services to cover gaps, respond to incidents, and meet compliance standards without expanding internal staff.

For most municipalities, priorities include multi-factor authentication (MFA), regular backups (preferably offsite or cloud-based), employee phishing training, software patching, and a clear incident response plan. As well as being best practices, these are increasingly required for insurance coverage, grant eligibility, and regulatory compliance.

It depends on your systems and services. CJIS applies to police data, HIPAA to any health-related information, and PCI-DSS to online payments. Additionally, many cyber insurers now require specific controls (like MFA and endpoint protection), and state/federal grant programs often come with IT-related compliance expectations.

You’re not alone. Many municipalities are in the same position. But unsupported systems increase your risk of data loss, downtime, and breaches. Modernization doesn’t always require a full overhaul. A phased approach— prioritizing the most vulnerable or high-impact systems— is often more manageable.

Not always. Many general liability policies exclude cyber incidents or offer only limited coverage. Dedicated cyber liability insurance is available but increasingly difficult to obtain without certain security measures in place. Premiums are rising, and many municipalities are being asked to demonstrate specific protections during renewals.

Larger counties may have in-house teams, but smaller governments often use a mix of in-house staff, contracted IT consultants, shared services through councils of government (COGs), or managed service providers (MSPs). Many also rely on cooperative purchasing programs like COSTARS for procurement and support solutions.