By Trish Svoboda

During a meeting on Wednesday, Kansas state legislators, along with Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Marla Luckert, had discussions about improving the state’s cybersecurity measures. Lawmakers stress that all three branches of government need to work together so citizens’ information is better protected.

Luckert said that efforts are still underway to fully restore the court system following a ransomware attack by Russian-based hackers last fall. Though the system isn’t entirely recovered, Luckert mentioned that the remaining court districts should have their e-filing systems rectified within the next few weeks.

The House Modernization Committee heard from federal and state IT experts that, based on national standards, the legislature’s IT system security ranks between 1.4 and 1.8 on a 5-point scale.

Jerry Stogsdill, the Democratic ranking member, agreed actions need to be taken to shield the state government from potential cyber threats in the future. He’s hopeful lawmakers can address the issue this session.