Lawmakers calling on Gov. Pritzker to make Illinois leader in cybersecurity

Posted on July 23, 2021
cyberspace
Lexisnexis Risk Solutions CEO Haywood Talcove spoke to the House Cybersecurity Committee. (Photo courtesy: Pixabay)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – Everybody has had their identity stolen; the only difference is whether anybody has done anything with the information.

That’s just one nugget a cybersecurity expert passed along to an Illinois House committee. Lexisnexis Risk Solutions CEO Haywood Talcove had another one – a big one.

“You are going to have a situation where stolen identities are going to be taken advantage of and benefits are going to get paid,” Talcove told the House Cybersecurity Committee. “You lost $1 billion in unemployment insurance” in the Illinois Department of Employment Security cyberbreach, money the state is highly unlikely to get back.

After hearing from Talcove, the committee’s chairman, State Rep. Lamont Robinson (D-Chicago) called on the legislature and governor to make Illinois a leader in cybersecurity.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]. 

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