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Leesburg IT director seeks endpoint management, annual pen tests and AI guardrails in FY2027 enhancements
Summary
The town’s IT director presented FY2027 enhancement requests that prioritize endpoint/virtual environment management, a network administrator FTE, annual penetration testing, firewall and switch upgrades, Smarsh integration for FOIA, and an AI working group to craft staff guardrails; the commission unanimously endorsed the enhancements.
The Leesburg IT director presented a package of FY2027 enhancement requests to the Technology and Communications Commission and described several operational and policy priorities, and the commission moved to endorse those requests.
Speaker 4 outlined the items the department will seek in the next budget cycle, citing endpoint management for virtual environments, a new network administrator FTE to overlap with a retiring senior network engineer, annual penetration testing, integration of Smarsh so text messages can be included in ediscovery for FOIA requests, and network upgrades including bringing firewalls in-house. "We do need pen testing every year," Speaker 4 said, adding that the town has relied on biennial tests but should move to annual assessments and pair them with third‑party reviews such as CISA engagements where possible.
Speaker 4 also discussed the town’s AI work: an AI working group has been formed, staff have been polled on AI use, and the group is drafting guardrails and acceptable prompts while building an inventory of departmental AI use. He noted cost considerations for solutions such as Microsoft Copilot and said the working group will provide quarterly updates to the council and the commission.
Operational details discussed include replacing a nonperforming vendor (Red River) for the network upgrade and onboarding an alternative firm (DSI), moving to in‑house firewall management, and hiring to ensure at least one month of overlap between outgoing and incoming network staff to preserve institutional knowledge. The director said the recent penetration test results had been reviewed previously in closed session for security reasons and will continue to be handled that way.
After the presentation the commission voted to endorse the requested enhancements and singled out endpoint management and third‑party penetration testing as top priorities. The commission’s endorsement will be conveyed to the town manager, who is expected to present the budget to the town council in February.
