Washington County auditor moves forward with cybersecurity grant

The Washington County Auditor’s Office is moving forward with an application for a cybersecurity grant.

The Board of Supervisors gave the go-ahead Tuesday for county Auditor Dan Widmer to submit the application to the state.

“This is an election security grant for up to $10,000,” Widmer said. “A lot of it has to do with addressing cybersecurity threats related to elections.

“According to the state, it’s to prevent, prepare for and respond to cybersecurity threats.”

In February, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate announced that each county in the state could receive a $10,000 grant for election cybersecurity enhancements.

The funding to assist counties with cybersecurity services comes from a federal grant to Iowa through the Help America Vote Act, and the grants must be spent in accordance with the requirements of the law, which includes elements from administrative rules adopted by Pate in 2020.

The rules cover guidelines such as the development of incident response plans, reporting requirements and improved password strength.

They mandate that counties use cyber hygiene scans, assessments, and tools from the Iowa Office of Chief Information Officer and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security unless the county already receives similar services from a private vendor.

“If we accept the $10,000, what do they expect from us?” asked Supervisor Jack Seward Jr. “Do we need it?”

Widmer said that his office has to keep and store a large amount of information that needs to be kept secure.

“This is just to get the thing started,” Widmer said. “There will be more details as we go on.”

One possibility Widmer suggested back in February is to fund cyber monitoring of the county's elections software and equipment.

“That would monitor things like making sure we're not attacked,” he said.

Another option, which Widmer said he has already spoken to other county auditors about, is moving to a secure elections website with enhanced security.

He said that the county could leverage the grant money with county funds for more advanced cybersecurity measures.