---
title: 10 Questions Local Government Leaders Should Ask About Cybersecurity Risk
description: City managers don’t need technical expertise to understand cyber risk. Here are 10 questions every local government leader should ask their IT team.
image: https://blog.secdef.com/hubfs/2025%20-%20Theme%20Files/logo-header.svg
---

# 10 Questions Local Government Leaders Should Ask About Cybersecurity Risk

[ Secure Cyber ](https://blog.secdef.com/author/secure-cyber)

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Local government leaders do not need to be cybersecurity experts. But they **do need to ask the right questions** to understand risk and protect critical services.

These ten questions help translate cybersecurity into **operational and leadership decisions**.

⸻

**1. If ransomware hit us today, how long would our city or county be unable to operate?**

This is the **single most important question**.

Leadership should know:

• How long email would be down?

• How long financial systems would be down?

• How long public safety systems would be impacted?

Good answer example:

• Essential services restored in **24–48 hours**

• Full operations restored in **7 days**

If IT cannot answer this, **recovery planning is not mature.**

⸻

**2. What are the top five cybersecurity risks facing our organization right now?**

Executives should receive a **clear list of risks**, not technical jargon.

Example:

Top risks may include:

• Ransomware

• Legacy systems

• Vendor access to internal systems

• Email compromise of finance staff

• Internet-facing vulnerabilities

Each risk should include:

• Likelihood

• Impact

• Mitigation plan

⸻

**3. Are there any known critical vulnerabilities in our systems today?**

Executives should ask:

**“Do we currently have any known security holes that attackers could exploit?”**

Follow-up questions:

• How many?

• How long have they been open?

• Why have they not been fixed?

This replaces meaningless metrics like **“92% patch compliance.”**

⸻

**4. How quickly can we detect a cyberattack?**

Many organizations focus on **prevention**, but detection speed matters just as much.

Ask:

• How quickly would we know if someone broke into our network?

• Is anyone monitoring our systems 24/7?

If detection takes **days or weeks**, attackers may already be inside.

⸻

**5. Are our backups tested and protected from ransomware?**

Executives should ask:

• Are backups **offline or protected from attackers?**

• How often are they tested?

• When was the **last full recovery test?**

Many governments discover backup problems **during an incident**, which is too late. Many IT leaders rely on the "green checkmark" to validate that backups are being completed. Many, test backups by doing a test restore of a single file instead of testing recovery of full systems and servers. 

⸻

**6. What systems would cause the biggest disruption if they went offline?**

Executives should know the **most critical services**.

Examples:

• 911 systems

• Utility billing

• Payroll

• Police records

• Water treatment systems

Cybersecurity strategy should prioritize protecting **these services first**.

⸻

**7. Are all employees protected with multi-factor authentication?**

Ask specifically about **high-risk users**: (though everyone should be protected by MFA)

• Finance staff

• IT administrators

• Remote access users

• Email accounts

Credential theft is one of the **most common attack paths**.

⸻

**8. Have we tested our response to a cyber incident?**

Ask whether the organization has conducted:

• Tabletop exercises

• Incident response drills

• Ransomware recovery simulations

Most governments **have plans but have never tested them.**

⸻

**9. Are third-party vendors creating cybersecurity risks for us?**

Cities and counties rely heavily on vendors.

Ask:

• Which vendors have access to our systems?

• Do they follow cybersecurity standards?

• Could a vendor breach affect our operations?

Many public sector breaches originate through **third-party access**.

⸻

**10. What cybersecurity risks are we accepting today?**

This is the **governance question**.

Every organization accepts some risk. Leadership should understand:

• Which risks exist?

• Why they are being accepted?

• What it would cost to reduce them?

Cybersecurity becomes a **leadership decision**, not just an IT issue.

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