Watch now: Bloomington council hears plan to boost cybersecurity | Politics

BLOOMINGTON — The city's information and technology services department wants to enhance protections designed to identify and fend off cyberattacks.

To do so, Bloomington will need to continuously update its technical infrastructure and facilities, ITS director Craig McBeath told the Bloomington City Council on Monday while presenting a draft of the department's strategic plan. 

"There's no financial commitment to this plan, it's simply a shared understanding of how to advance the city's vision," McBeath said, adding that any major purchases would be requested through the typical budgeting process.

Included in the three-year plan are 24 goals, ranging from updating equipment and expanding storage capacity to training staff and implementing a Freedom of Information Act management system. 

Also included in the plan are upgrades to publicly-accessible wireless internet and the city's cybersecurity measures, like internal firewalls.

Ward 5 Ald. Nick Becker, who works as an administrator for a data storage company, said those features are only effective if the "foundation is in place."

"Very, very typical with all the government agencies that we deal with that this is the case — the infrastructure is out of date, some software somewhere some component is so off of maintenance that it just cascades and causes major problems," Becker said. 

Ward 9 Ald. Tom Crumpler asked what kinds of cybersecurity would be in place if the city was attacked by ransomware or "held hostage" by hackers. 

Without revealing too many details, McBeath said Bloomington's current practices are "the best possible to anticipate any kind of security breach or hack." 

Those include back-ups and security measures based on recommendations from the state and federal governments, McBeath said. 

He added that the ITS department also actively monitors "active security incidents" especially during election periods and works to "prevent anything that we possibly can."

McBeath added that cybersecurity is an area that the department expects to develop through an area-wide security consortium with Illinois State University and Illinois Wesleyan University.

City Manager Tim Gleason reiterated Monday that next week he will recommend the council repeal the city's emergency ordinance adopted at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The emergency ordinance will come before council (on June 28) with the staff recommendation to end that effective June 30," Gleason said. "It will also include some best practices that we've learned along the way amidst COVID."

He first hinted at that recommendation at the council's June 14 meeting, when he also explained that the vaccination site at the Grossinger Motors Arena would continue, albeit at a smaller scale. 

The Pantagraph last week detailed those changes, finding the number of Illinois National Guard members on site has dropped from at least 60, to 19.

Letting the ordinance expire would signal the most firm commitment from the city that it is operating in a post-pandemic world. City facilities are mostly open, and face coverings are not required for vaccinated visitors.

The emergency ordinance was first approved on March 26, 2020, has automatically renewed every 28 days since then and has been amended nine times.

Among the provisions outlined in the ordinances are expanding the city manager's authority, as well as prorating fees on liquor licenses, pausing water shutoffs, facilitating curbside pickup at businesses and hosting virtual meetings.