Clay County Technology Services seeks funding for cybersecurity test, warns of rising software costs

Technology Services on July 1 presented a 2026 budget that would cover ongoing license inflation and a set of new security measures the department said would reduce cyber risk.

Rory (Technology Services) told the board the largest single new request is an external penetration test — a contracted security assessment that simulates attacks on the county's internal and external systems. Staff provided a budget range of $40,000–$45,000 for an annual engagement; multi‑year agreements would lower the annual cost, Rory said. The department also described rising costs across core software lines: Microsoft enterprise licensing, endpoint antivirus (which the state security grant has subsidized but now shifts more costs to counties), remote support tools and virtualization licensing.

Other items discussed were a secure vendor‑access (privileged remote access) tool to control and log third‑party vendor sessions, a secure file‑transfer license and a $20,000 request for replacement surveillance camera hardware. Rory said the county's cybersecurity analyst, a position added last year, would work with these tools if approved.

Commissioners asked about repurposing decommissioned laptops for community use. Rory said the county currently removes and shreds hard drives on devices used in sensitive departments for security reasons; repurposing working laptops would require staff time to wipe and reinstall operating systems and a policy for recipients. Rory estimated the county retires roughly 100–150 laptops per year and that about 30% are not capable of running current OS requirements such as Windows 11.

No budget votes were taken at the meeting; Rory said he would return with formal budget requests and additional details.