Technology services proposes penetration test and software licensing increases; board asks about repurposing laptops

Clay County Technology Services presented its proposed 2026 budget July 1, flagging rising software-license costs and several new security and hardware requests. The department asked the board to consider a third-party penetration test of internal and external networks at an estimated $40,000 to $45,000 annually (or $40,000/yr on a multi-year term) to identify vulnerabilities, and proposed a secure vendor-access tool, virtualization and server licensing increases, additional video-surveillance hardware funding and ongoing Microsoft and endpoint-license increases.