State CISO nominee to review 3,200 connected apps, flags emerging AI risks
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Summary
Acting State Chief Information Security Officer James Sanders told the nominations committee he will begin a review of roughly 3,200 applications connected to the state's Google Workspace and implement identity-platform migration and additional safeguards to limit data access.
James Sanders, nominated to be Maryland's chief information security officer, told the Senate Executive Nominations Committee on Feb. 16 that cybersecurity work will begin immediately on an inventory of approximately 3,200 connected applications and on strengthening identity controls.
Introduced by Senator John Henry Salling, Sanders said his team will validate the list of applications connected to the state's Google Workspace environment, determine which need to remain active, and remove or restrict those that do not. He described a recent identity migration and said the state will add safeguards to control which external apps can access state data. Sanders also flagged emerging challenges tied to artificial intelligence and said cybersecurity must work with executive agencies, the legislature and federal partners.
On budget and reporting, Sanders told the committee he had not encountered conflicts in working through the department that houses IT budgets and said he has been able to obtain necessary funding while collaborating with Secretary Savage.
Next steps: Sanders' testimony was recorded and the committee heard members’ questions about app inventories and budget authority. The committee will continue standard confirmation procedures.