East Point’s Information Technology Department is once again receiving top honors in the state for their innovation on cybersecurity. They are one of 10 honorees in the 2020 Technology Innovation Showcase from the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA). The showcase has nine categories and serves as a forum for honoring outstanding work at the state and local government levels while promoting the sharing of ideas, experiences and lessons learned. East Point’s project titled “Cybersecurity for a Safer City,” focuses on how the City uses a Darktrace Cyber AI Platform to fight and detect evolving threats targeting its digital infrastructure. This critical piece of technology continuously monitors the security of City servers, critical assets on Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services platforms, and defends against a full range of sophisticated cyber-threats, including fast-moving ransomware and unauthorized data exfiltration. 

“I am happy that our plan and strategy has been validated and is working,” said Farhad Islam, East Point’s IT Director. “We know that it’s working because we haven’t had any incidents or any significant issues with our security systems. We feel that we have a strong security posture in place and we are learning as we go along. Our Mayor/Council and City Manager are very supportive of our effort to securing our environment by providing the resources that we need and following our recommendations.” 

The projects were assessed and selected by an evaluation committee based on the following criteria:

• Innovation in addressing a specific business problem

• Improving business processes and operating efficiency 

• Financial savings or cost avoidance

• Enhancing service delivery to external or internal customers 

East Point’s project will be honored at the Georgia Digital Government Summit in the fall. To view a complete list of the 2020 Technology Innovation Showcase award recipients click here.