(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced in their Monday morning press conference that Gov. Branstad has signed Executive Order Eighty-Seven that will combat cybersecurity threats in Iowa.  Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds were joined by the Director of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Mark Schouten and the State of Iowa's Chief Security Information Officer Jeff Franklin.

"As co-chair of the Council of Governors, I know how important cybersecurity is to our state's posture.  With this in mind, I am issuing Executive Order Eighty-Seven which will direct our state agencies to draft a State of Iowa cybersecurity strategy and update Iowa's emergency response plan to better deal with the physical consequences of a cyberattack against the state's critical infrastructure," said Gov. Branstad.

Lt. Gov. Reynolds added, "The State of Iowa has already been working to improve its cybersecurity for quite some time.  However, we know that cyber threats are constant and growing and we must be diligent in doing what we can to protect our state.  Today's executive order will solidify the foundation and work that is being conducted to protect the state against these threats."

In December of 2014, Governor Branstad formed a State cyber working group to expand on the work that was being done at the national level.  That group, comprised of state agencies and key federal and private partners, looked at ways to prevent, detect, respond to and recover from cyber threats in Iowa.  State of Iowa agencies involved in the group were the Office of the Chief Information Officer, Iowa National Guard, Iowa Department of Public Safety, Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and the Iowa Communications Network.  In addition, the FBI, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, private industry and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center participated in the group.  The results from this group's work are the foundation for this executive order.

Executive Order Eighty-Seven can be read in its entirety here.

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