Cybersecurity for Public Safety & Emergency Services
Cybersecurity for Public Safety Agencies
Protecting dispatch, records, and mobile systems under the CJIS Security Policy without compromising availability.
A police or fire agency cannot take its dispatch system offline for a patch window at will, and it cannot accept the access controls that would slow a dispatcher down. Security in this environment is an exercise in getting the controls right without touching response times.
What public safety environments look like
- Computer-aided dispatch and records management systems, often from different vendors
- Mobile data terminals in patrol vehicles and apparatus, on cellular networks
- Connections to state and national criminal justice databases with strict access rules
- Body-worn camera and digital evidence platforms holding large volumes of sensitive media
- Land mobile radio infrastructure and its supporting IT
- Regional dispatch centers shared by several jurisdictions, each with its own policies
Where HQT helps
- CJIS Security Policy gap analysis covering personnel screening, advanced authentication, encryption, audit logging, and mobile device requirements
- Authentication designs that meet advanced authentication expectations without adding steps at a dispatch console, including hardware-backed and shared-device options
- Audit logging at the record level, so the agency can answer who accessed what, and log review that someone actually performs
- Segmentation of criminal justice systems from general city or county networks, and controlled vendor remote access
- Incident response planning coordinated with the state CJIS systems agency, including procedures for operating when systems are unavailable
- Security review of new platforms before purchase, and of the integrations between them
How an engagement usually starts
Often with a state CJIS audit finding, a new system procurement, or a regional dispatch center standing up shared infrastructure. HQT staff assigned to this work complete fingerprint-based background screening and CJIS security awareness training through the agency before touching anything.