Bridging the Threat Intelligence Gap: Why SLTT Governments Can’t Afford to Wait

What if I told you that right now, invisible adversaries are actively mapping the digital blueprint of America’s most vital systems?

Every second, invisible adversaries are probing our critical infrastructure, searching for that single vulnerability that could disrupt power grids, compromise emergency services, or even bring government operations to a halt. This isn’t fiction, it’s a silent battle our nation is fighting every day to defend itself, with the most recent example being CISA’s identification of fast flux as a national security threat.

National security has always been a top priority, and today, cybersecurity is its frontline. Between January 2023 and January 2024, a recent report revealed that global critical infrastructure faced over 420 million cyberattacks- averaging approximately 13 attacks per second. The United States emerged as the primary target. This battle is no longer about borders. It’s about keeping lives safe, economies resilient, and critical services accessible to citizens.

In this blog, I’ll explore the vital role that State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) governments play in national security, their strategic priorities, the challenges they face, and the urgent steps they must take to strengthen their cybersecurity defense to protect both citizens and critical infrastructure. 

SLTT Governments Are a Cornerstone of National Security

Protecting America’s critical infrastructure is a shared mission, powered by federal leadership and the strength of nearly 90,000 SLTT organizations operating on the front lines of our communities. These entities safeguard essential services like healthcare, water, power, transportation, and education- the systems that millions of Americans rely on every day.

SLTT cybersecurity teams are the first line of defense against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. Their local presence allows them to detect and respond to threats early while serving as critical intelligence-sharing partners with federal agencies. Collaborating with federal entities, the private sector, and peer jurisdictions, SLTT organizations play a key role in creating effective channels for exchanging actionable threat intelligence and cybersecurity best practices.

However, the challenges SLTT cyber teams face is intensifying. From advanced ransomware attacks to supply chain compromises and denial-of-service attacks, the threat landscape is evolving rapidly. At the same time, SLTTs must contend with fragmented technology environments, workforce shortages, and limited budgets.

A recent Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) report underscores a surge in attacks by nation-state and criminal actors targeting SLTT entities, often with the goal of disrupting services and undermining public trust. With so much of the nation’s critical infrastructure managed at the local and state level, the report emphasizes the urgent need to build resilience, improve intelligence sharing, and coordinate response efforts to strengthen national security.

As threat actors continue to evolve their capabilities, the need for unified threat intelligence management across the SLTT sector has never been more urgent!

The Strategic Priorities of SLTT Governments

To effectively counter growing cyber threats and strengthen critical infrastructure, the MS-ISAC has outlined key strategic priorities for SLTT governments.

• Strengthen Critical Infrastructure Resilience: SLTT governments must prioritize consolidating threat intelligence and improving coordination with national security partners. This integration allows for more robust protection of vital systems and services against increasingly sophisticated attacks.
• Enhance Public Trust: Building and maintaining public confidence is paramount. Improved education initiatives, greater transparency in security practices, and clearer communication about protection measures foster the community support essential for effective security programs.
• Support Small and Rural Communities: Smaller jurisdictions face unique challenges that must be addressed through accessible, low-cost security solutions and hands-on technical assistance tailored to communities with limited resources and expertise.
• Eliminate Insider Risks: Comprehensive strategies to mitigate internal threats through enhanced access controls, regular security awareness training, and advanced behavior monitoring systems are essential to detect potential security compromises from within.
• Invest in Workforce Development: The persistent cybersecurity talent shortage requires expanded recruitment efforts, specialized training programs, and retention strategies to build sustainable security teams capable of defending against sophisticated threats.

The Intelligence Challenge: Why SLTT Governments Struggle?

While these priorities are clearly outlined and understood across the ecosystem, SLTT cybersecurity teams still face unique challenges that make defending against advanced cyber threats  particularly difficult.

• Intelligence Fragmentation: Most SLTT agencies receive threat data from multiple disconnected sources: federal feeds, vendor-specific alerts, open-source intelligence, and local observations. These inputs remain siloed across different systems, creating information gaps and requiring manual correlation which is too time-consuming for understaffed teams to take action before they are impacted.
• Resource Constraints: Unlike many federal agencies, SLTT governments operate with an insufficient budget compounded by skilled workforce limitations. For example, many jurisdictions lack dedicated threat Analysts, forcing IT generalists to interpret complex threat data alongside their primary responsibilities.
• Operational Disconnects: Even when valuable intelligence exists, many SLTT agencies struggle to quickly translate that intelligence into protective actions. The gap between "knowing" about threats and operationalizing that knowledge creates dangerous security blind spots.
• Isolation Effect: Individual SLTT governments often face threats alone, missing opportunities for regional coordination. When one city defends against an attack, neighboring communities may remain unaware of the threat patterns until targeted by the same bad actors.

The Cyber Defense Trifecta: Building Smarter Threat Intelligence Systems

Cybersecurity isn’t about reaching a finish line, but  it’s about building lasting resilience in the face of constant change. For SLTT governments, the mission is a continuous journey of navigating limited resources, rising threats, and evolving adversaries. While new challenges will always emerge, so will new opportunities to strengthen defenses, foster collaboration, and leverage innovation. With the right partners and a proactive mindset, achieving meaningful, adaptive security is not just possible but it’s within reach.

SLTT governments must focus on building a strategic foundation- one that enables unified threat intelligence management, real-time collaboration, and seamless coordination across jurisdictions. 

With the right tools in place, unified threat intelligence management empowers SLTT governments to strengthen cyber resilience and demonstrate clear ROI which are essential for unlocking the right share of federal and state grants. Let’s explore the three foundational pillars that can help SLTT governments turn a unified threat intelligence management vision into action.

1. Move from Vulnerable to Vigilant with the Right Technology for Unified Threat Intelligence Management.

In today's threat landscape, disparate security tools create dangerous visibility gaps that sophisticated attackers exploit. A unified threat intelligence platform delivers the comprehensive awareness SLTT governments need by:

• Centralizing intelligence collection from multiple sources, including open-source feeds, commercial providers, government advisories, and internal security tools, creating a single source of truth for analysts to take action more quickly.
• Automating analysis and correlation to quickly assign risk scores to threats,  identify patterns and relationships between seemingly unrelated threats that would otherwise go undetected by manual analysis, ensuring fewer pending threats slip through the cracks.
• Providing customizable dashboards that deliver actionable insights tailored to different roles, from security analysts to appointed executives to senior leadership, enabling appropriate stakeholders to make better-informed decisions at all levels of government.
• Enabling machine learning capabilities that continuously improve threat detection accuracy and reduce false positives, allowing SLTT cyber teams to focus on genuine risks that are the highest priority for their specific environment.
• Supporting real time alerting, as emphasized in CISA’s Cybersecurity Strategic Plan, with contextual information that helps security teams understand both the technical details and potential business impact of emerging threats, enabling them to prioritize which cyber threats to act on first.

Cyware’s threat intelligence operationalization platform for SLTT governments has been specifically designed to address the unique challenges faced by resource-constrained organizations, delivering enterprise-grade protection that scales to meet both SLTT cyber team requirements and SLTT government budgets.

2. Shift from Isolation to a 'One Network, One Defense' Strategy for Enhanced Collaboration and Collective Cyber Defense

The days of defending in isolation should come to a halt. Threat actors target multiple jurisdictions simultaneously, making collaboration essential. A modern threat intelligence platform must facilitate:

• Secure cross-jurisdiction information sharing through standardized formats (STIX/TAXII) and support customizable access and sharing controls and additional data protections such as ACS Markings to protect sensitive information while enabling collaborative defense.
• Community-based detection, where indicators discovered by one entity can immediately benefit the entire network, multiplying defensive capabilities
• Collaborative analysis workspaces where analysts across different organizations can collaborate together on complex investigations, pooling expertise and resources to lessen gaps caused by skilled workforce shortages
• Joint response coordination tools that streamline communication during incidents affecting multiple jurisdictions, reducing confusion and accelerating containment actions
• Knowledge transfer mechanisms that help less mature cyber security programs learn from more advanced peers, raising overall security posture across the SLTT community

Cyware’s platform can enable seamless connection with many ISACs and other key information sharing networks for actively sharing insights, best practices, and early warnings.

3. Map Your Threat Intelligence Gaps and Optimize Resource Allocation

Before investing in new technologies, SLTT governments need to understand their current capabilities and prioritize improvements that deliver maximum impact. This process should follow a methodical approach, carried out in collaboration with a trusted threat intelligence vendor to ensure the current state is clearly understood, gaps are identified, and the right solutions are put in place. The steps should include:

• Step 1: Conduct a threat intelligence maturity assessment to benchmark your current capabilities against industry frameworks like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework or CIS Controls. Alternatively, you can also conduct the analysis using the Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs) developed by CISA, which are aligned with the frameworks listed above.
• Step 2: Identify high-risk gaps by comparing your threat intelligence capabilities against the specific threats targeting your sector and region
• Step 3: Develop a prioritized roadmap that balances quick wins with strategic long-term improvements, accounting for available resources and expertise
• Step 4: Measure and document security improvements to demonstrate progress and build support for continued investment
• Step 5: Continuously reassess and adapt your approach as threats evolve and new capabilities become available

By taking this structured approach to strengthening threat intelligence capabilities, SLTT governments can evolve from reactive firefighting to proactive threat management, regardless of their current maturity level or budget constraints.

Conclusion: The Stakes Have Never Been Higher

The urgency to strengthen cybersecurity across SLTT governments cannot be overstated. As threats evolve and the risks grow higher, the need for smarter, better coordinated defense strategies is clear. By leveraging AI driven unified threat intelligence management, fostering collaboration across jurisdictions, and strategically optimizing resources, SLTT agencies can shift from reactive response to a proactive action based cybersecurity posture. The tools and frameworks to achieve this transformation are available today. And, with the right approach, SLTT governments can turn vulnerabilities into opportunities for resilience.

The path forward requires a commitment to continuous improvement, intelligent collaboration, and the strategic use of technology, all of which are crucial to safeguarding the critical infrastructure that millions of Americans rely on daily. Now is the time for SLTT governments to act, before the next cyber threat strikes.

To learn how Cyware’s solutions can better protect SLTT governments from cyber threats, book a demo now.