Government Website & Email Security Compliance

Compliance with Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Standards Is Not Optional

Failure to meet these requirements exposes your agency to severe consequences:

• Criminal Charges: The Department of Justice's Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative targets government entities and individuals who fail to comply with cybersecurity requirements. Elected officials who fail to ensure proper adherence while in office can face criminal prosecution for negligence. Civil employees and department heads who do not ensure their departments are properly secured can also face criminal charges for willful disregard of security requirements.
• Civil Liability: Citizens can sue for data breaches, identity theft, and privacy violations. Without proper security documentation, your agency loses in court.
• Federal Grant Restrictions: The federal government has begun limiting and restricting grant money to local governments found to be non-compliant with cybersecurity standards. Non-compliance can result in disqualification from federal funding programs, suspension of existing grants, and exclusion from future grant opportunities, potentially costing your agency millions in lost funding.
• Insurance Denials: Cyber insurance policies require documented security practices, testing, logging, and incident response. Without proper documentation, claims are denied, leaving your agency financially exposed.
• Federal Sanctions: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and federal agencies conduct audits and can impose sanctions including contract terminations, operational restrictions, and mandatory remediation at your expense.

Are You Securing Your Infrastructure Properly?

Federal and state governments mandate specific cybersecurity standards. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) requirements aren't suggestions. They're mandatory. Every aspect of your infrastructure must be properly secured: domains, websites, email, networks, backups, and monitoring.

• Is your .gov domain properly managed with DNSSEC?
• Are all security protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MTA-STS, TLS-RPT) correctly configured?
• Is your infrastructure hosted on containerized, government-hardened hardware? Standard consumer hosting is not acceptable per Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) requirements.
• Are backups following the 3-2-1 strategy with regular testing?
• Is 24/7 monitoring and logging in place?
• Does your email hosting meet requirements for litigation hold, archiving, and retention? Government email must comply with open records laws and legal requirements.

Can You Prove It?

Insurance companies require documented proof. Without proper documentation of your security practices, testing, logging, and incident response policies, your cyber insurance claims will be denied.

Can you provide:

• Documented security configurations and compliance reports?
• Regular security testing results and vulnerability assessments?
• Comprehensive logging and monitoring documentation?
• Written incident response policies and procedures?
• Proof of patch management and security updates?
• Evidence of backup testing and disaster recovery planning?

If you can't prove it, you're not protected. Insurance won't pay. Auditors will sanction you. Citizens can sue. Officials can face criminal charges for negligence.

Can You Respond If a Zero-Day Attack Happens?

Zero-day attacks exploit unknown vulnerabilities. They're inevitable. The question isn't if they'll happen. It's whether you can respond effectively when they do.

Do you have:

• 24/7 monitoring to detect attacks immediately?
• Automated threat containment and response systems?
• Documented incident response procedures that are regularly tested?
• A team ready to respond at any hour?
• Backup and recovery systems that can restore services quickly?
• Communication plans for notifying citizens and stakeholders?

Without proper incident response, a zero-day attack can destroy your agency's credibility, expose you to unlimited liability, and result in criminal charges for negligence.

Consumer Hosting Is Not Acceptable

Standard consumer hosting is a big no-no for government agencies. Per Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) requirements and OMB Memorandum M-23-10, government infrastructure must be hosted on government-hardened hardware with proper security controls. Consumer hosting providers do not meet these requirements and expose your agency to liability.

Government hosting must be:

• Containerized: Applications must run in isolated containers to prevent cross-contamination and limit attack surfaces. Containerization ensures that if one application is compromised, the impact is contained and cannot spread to other systems or the host infrastructure.
• Properly Protected: Infrastructure must have proper network segmentation, access controls, monitoring, and security hardening that meets Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) standards.
• Government-Controlled: Hardware must be controlled by providers who understand government requirements and can provide proper documentation for compliance and insurance purposes.
• Documented: All security measures, configurations, and compliance status must be documented for audits and insurance claims.

YesGov hosts all government services on containerized, government-hardened infrastructure that we control. We don't use consumer hosting. We don't trust third-party providers. We control the hardware, the security, and the compliance.