CYBER-PANEL RECOMMENDS DEFENSE TEAM: A panel charged with assessing Maryland’s vulnerability to cyberattacks recommended Friday that the state create a team of emergency personnel charged with defending its networks against hackers, writes Ian Duncan for the Sun. The General Assembly created the MarylandCybersecurity Council last year and asked for regular reports with ideas for how to better protect the state’s computers and other critical infrastructure connected to the internet.
ED DEPT PROBLEMS: Following a MarylandReporter.com story, Josh Hicks of the Post reports that the Department of Education needs to better enforce its safeguards against child-care workers who could put children at risk, according to a report this week from state auditors. A review by the Department of Legislative Services found that the state has failed sometimes in recent years to ensure that child-care employees had background checks and that authorities followed up on criminal alerts for such individuals.