Council approves software renewal and accepts $49,000 cybersecurity-audit grant; staff say audit complements email protection

The council approved a renewal of Barracuda email protection and cloud‑backup services and accepted a $49,000 grant to perform a cybersecurity audit of the city's virtual host environment.

Staff reported the Barracuda renewal includes an increase of about $8,600 year over year driven largely by 34 new licenses added for the city and police department and upgrades to the service. The renewal covers email security features and cloud backup. Al Perez and IT staff were present to answer council questions.

Separately, the city has been awarded a $49,000 grant to complete a security audit of the virtual-host environment to identify vulnerabilities beyond email — including file storage, hosted applications and some external integrations. Staff emphasized that the audit and the Barracuda service are complementary: Barracuda protects and archives email and scans for threats, while an external audit probes systems, policies and configuration vulnerabilities that automated products may not detect.

Council members noted Barracuda's role and asked whether city insurance and other protections are in place; staff said the city carries cybersecurity insurance and that an audit can reduce premiums by demonstrating stronger controls. The council approved the renewal and accepted the audit grant as part of a block vote.