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Hot Springs staff recommend one-year cybersecurity renewal with VC3; city share about $65,000
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Summary
Information Systems Director Jeff Winter told the board staff recommends a one-year renewal of existing cybersecurity software and monitoring services with VC3 (formerly ThinkGuard) under the TIPS cooperative contract; total contract ~ $130,000 split with the county, city share ~$65,000, plus about $5,100 in implementation fees.
The Hot Springs Board reviewed a staff recommendation to approve a one-year renewal for cybersecurity software and 24/7 monitoring services from VC3 (previously ThinkGuard LLC) under the TIPS cooperative purchasing program.
Information Systems Director Jeff Winter said the existing three-year agreement expires in June and the proposed renewal for one year would include capacity increases for growth and additional DNS monitoring; the total contract amount was described as approximately $130,000 with the city paying roughly half (about $65,000) and an additional one-time implementation fee of about $5,100 for new software counts.
Why it matters: The contract provides continuous monitoring through a security operations center (SOC) the city does not staff in-house, and funds will pay for software, monitoring and some implementation work to cover growth.
What was said: Winter described the product set as typical antivirus, DNS monitoring, vulnerability management and services that allow a vendor SOC to take immediate steps to isolate compromised devices outside normal business hours. "...the service is 24 by 7, 365 monitoring service, that this company provides us that obviously we don't have manpower to provide after hours service," Winter said, describing why the city uses an external SOC. He added the agreement pricing was based on a negotiated Arkansas state contract (TIPS) and that the item was budgeted for 2026.
What happens next: Staff recommended board approval at the upcoming business meeting; no vote was taken during the agenda-review session.
