Council OKs cybersecurity services agreement to close identified vulnerabilities

The City of Katy approved a master services agreement, statement of work and mutual non‑disclosure agreement with Calian Corp. for cybersecurity services to remediate vulnerabilities identified during a recent security assessment.

Staff said Calian will provide specialized technical resources to augment city IT staff and to validate remediation work. The council heard that the work is intended to cover targeted remediation — described as a “block of hours” — to address high-priority issues uncovered by the earlier assessment conducted by another firm. Council members asked whether the engagement would provide senior-level engineers and whether the 20-hour block proposed would be sufficient to close critical gaps; staff replied the block is intended to verify and audit remediation steps and to resolve critical access and exposure items.

Councilmember Gina Hicks, who asked about staffing levels, cited recent high-profile ransomware incidents elsewhere and emphasized the importance of senior technical expertise. Staff said the Calian engagement supplements the city’s ongoing remediation and that the city has completed about 95% of recommended items from the assessment; the contract is to adjudicate the remaining critical items.

Council approved the contract by voice vote. Staff noted the engagement is intended to be limited and focused; any broader managed‑service or ongoing managed security services would be considered separately.