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Alcester to join state SecureSD program, move city email to .gov domain
Summary
Staff briefed the council on a state-funded SecureSD cybersecurity program to install firewalls and move municipal email to a .gov domain; initial hardware and licensing costs are covered through 2028, with an estimated annual cost of about $4,039.56 thereafter.
City staff recommended the city participate in the state's SecureSD cybersecurity program to harden municipal systems. The program proposes firewall and intrusion-detection installations for municipal networks (city office and sewer plant) and migration from elsestersd.org to a .gov domain with secure cloud email for official accounts.
Staff said the state will cover the upfront hardware and email licensing costs through 2028; once funding ends the recurring annual cost was estimated at roughly $4,039.56 for the city (about $400 per user plus antivirus licensing). "The state of South Dakota said, yep. They're good to go," staff said, summarizing program approval. Council discussed the advantages of a .gov domain (vetted, free) and unified Microsoft licensing and agreed this would improve security for city finances and customer data.
Staff noted the migration would centralize email addresses (for example mayor@elsester.sdcity.gov) and allow aliasing to preserve continuity when officeholders change. The council asked staff to proceed with the SecureSD onboarding and to track future licensing costs once state support ends.
