Governor Dayton Proposes State Cybersecurity Upgrade

ST. PAUL. (AP) - Gov. Mark Dayton is proposing a $125 million technology upgrade for Minnesota government that includes tighter cybersecurity protections.

Reports say that Dayton's budget proposal includes $74 million to boost Minnesota's cybersecurity defenses. The funds would help Minnesota create secure data centers and hire more cybersecurity experts.

Myron Frans, the state's management and budget commissioner, says Dayton is also proposing $51 million for improvements to Minnesota's IT infrastructure.

Minnesota Information Technology Services Commissioner Tom Baden says threats to state government systems are becoming more frequent and sophisticated every day.

One of the biggest threats comes from dedicated denial-of-service, or DDoS, attacks. Chris Buse, the state's chief information security officer, says these attacks occur when hackers try to flood government systems with so much traffic that they crash the systems or make them unusable.