Arizona on alert for Russian cyberattacks but not seeing increase, state official says

PHOENIX – Arizona has been on high alert for cyberattacks from Russia since the country invaded Ukraine, but activity levels haven’t changed, the director of the state Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday.

“We haven’t seen any uptick based on the latest aggression in Ukraine,” Tim Roemer told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News.

“That’s a good thing for us right now, but we are on the highest level of alert and we have to be prepared for the worst.”

Roemer said Russia is “constantly trying to hack into U.S. firms around the nation” but hasn’t been doing anything “out of the ordinary” since invading Ukraine on Feb. 24.

“This is pretty normal Russian behavior that we’re seeing right now,” he said.

Arizona has done a good job investing to bolster cybersecurity, Roemer, including a command center that opened in October 2021.

“That cyber command center gives us a capability that we didn’t have before,” he said. “And it puts us in a better position to defend the state from these modern threats that we see now with the Russia-Ukraine conflict.”

The state also works closely with federal agencies such as the FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to identify and defend against threats, Roemer said.

“I’m really confident in our nation to be able to overcome whatever they throw our way,” he said.

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