Texas Senate plans to put millions into safeguarding cyber threats

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The Texas Senate is planning to spend millions of dollars to ensure state agencies are safeguarded against potential cyber threats.

District 30 Senator Drew Springer says $800 million for cyber security will be coming out of the $250 billion Texas budget.

“The state agencies in Texas are attacked 1.3 billion times a month, where bad actors are trying to get into the state database. Whether they’re trying to steal your personal identity or trying to do ransomware,” said Springer.

This is the most the state has been able to spend on protecting those agencies against cyber threats, thanks to sales taxes and a booming economy.

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“We’re spending little over $110 million dollars just for cyber security. In addition to that, we’re spending a little over $500 million dollars upgrading a lot of our old systems that were vulnerable to cyber attacks,” said Springer.

However, officers in the Wichita Falls Police Department police says stolen credit cards and social security numbers cases is something they are also swamped with every day.

“Depending on how many pieces you have, it could actually increase the punishment for it but they’re all felonies. So up to 20 years at times and if there is enough we can even ask the federal government to come investigate,” said Sgt. Charlie Eipper, Public Information Officer for the Wichita Falls Police Department.

Wichita Falls police officers are put through special cyber training every year to prevent cyber threats that could be detrimental to their department.

“They can definitely get into some personal information and criminal history things that are illegal for us to share. They can get in there and use that for their own benefit and that’s the danger of it. So that’s why the training is so important for the employees of those different agencies,” said Eipper