Three vendors have been selected to offer a government-compliant level of secure email services to participating towns and counties across South Dakota, helping to protect them from cyber threats.
The Secure Email Solution will provide encrypted communications, secure calendaring, global address listings, phishing protection and mobile-friendly access— all designed with government cybersecurity standards in mind. The platform will also incorporate real-time threat detection, automated investigations and simulated phishing capabilities to keep systems resilient.
Mike Waldner, Director of SecureSD at Dakota State University, says these vendors will help local governments create a safer communication environment that’s scalable, secure and easy to use. He says now “there is no excuse for any city or county not to have secured communications.”
Participating towns and counties can work with SecureSD to select a vendor from the approved list. The awarded vendors will begin onboarding, implementation and training on the new system in the coming weeks. Onboarding to the new system will continue throughout the remainder of the program.
The vendors will support the deployment and management of a secure email system for local entities including law enforcement, elected officials, internal communications and public-facing departments. Not only does Secure Email Solution provide encrypted email, but it also has additional cybersecurity enhancements such as multi-factor authentication, and phishing email campaigns to continue to keep local government employees cyber aware by training the human firewall.
Nine proposals were submitted from across the nation. With support from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, SecureSD Advisory Council members and Dakota State University cybersecurity experts, these three vendors were selected:
- Infotech Solutions, LLC
- Riverside Technologies, Inc.
- Twotrees Technologies, LLC
“In today’s digital age, strong cybersecurity protections are not optional, they are essential,” said Attorney General Marty Jackley. “We’re proud to support this initiative that enables South Dakota local governments to protect citizen data and communicate securely without relying on public email platforms.”
“This solution directly addresses one of the most exploited cyberattack vectors—email,” said Dr. Ashley Podhradsky, Vice President for Research and Economic Development at DSU. “We’re proud to partner with the Attorney General’s Office and CISA to help local governments select, from a pool of vendors, who they wish to work with to secure their communications.”
Through the partnership between the Attorney General’s Office and DSU, and with the support of 2024 SB 187, the SecureSD initiative is taking proactive steps to enhance cybersecurity for South Dakota’s municipalities and counties, ensuring safer digital environments for their communities.
More information about the SecureSD initiative can be found at https://madlabs.dsu.edu/securesd/ or contact Waldner at Mike.Waldner@dsu.edu or 605-295-0821.
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