Staff proposes shared cybersecurity specialist position for Portsmouth IT resilience

Deputy City Manager for Finance Administration Nathan Lonnie told the council that staff would like to add a full‑time cybersecurity specialist as part of the FY26 budget to strengthen the city’s defenses against ransomware and other attacks.

Lonnie said the proposed position would be funded across departments: approximately 60 percent from the general fund and 40 percent from enterprise funds (water, sewer, etc.). He described the post as a shared FTE that would “help to anticipate, and provide for the defense of our organization against those kinds of external attacks,” citing news examples of ransomware incidents that can cause “$1,000,000 of dollars in damage and disrupt essential services.”

Councilors asked how the function would be organized. Councilor Marrow asked whether a central cyber function could replace disparate “pocket” arrangements in which individual departments maintain separate capabilities; Lonnie and the City Manager said a single administration would be ideal but that the city must navigate separate governance structures. The City Manager noted the fire commission’s IT relationship would not be altered by this proposal and that the school department uses a different platform, and staff cautioned that any change must avoid compromising departmental accreditations.

Several councilors expressed a preference to first inventory existing staff skills across departments to determine whether an internal reassignment could cover the role before adding a new FTE. Lonnie said staff would explore that option as they finalize budget proposals.

Staff emphasized this is a request for consideration in the FY26 development process; no formal decision or vote was taken at the work session.