The computer system in the town of Salemburg may soon be replaced after a presentation by a computer company informed the Board of Commissioners that it is outdated.
At the Salemburg commissioners meeting last Thursday, two men from IPM Computers in Wallace gave a presentation on the town’s current computer and cybersecurity system. IPM CEO Greg Rogers and sales manager Raymond Spell ran tests and completed an investigation after meeting with Town Clerk Teresa Smith to determine how protected the town would be in the event of a cyber attack. According to Spell, the town’s network system is more than 10 years old.
“The state of the town’s network needs to be addressed,” said Spell. “As of right now, you’re risking losing everything because one of your systems is 13 years old.”
According to the men, the town’s problem lies in its lack of encryption and security. For example, any emails sent and recieved by the town aren’t encrypted at all. This means that anyone could gain access to the town’s email at anytime. The men stated that a cyber attack occurs on an average of every 14 seconds. If it happens, it can be a difficult thing to recover from.
“We want to make it clear that this is not the worst we’ve seen,” said Rogers. “But at any rate, it still needs to be addressed. You need someone to fix this.”
While no ruling was made since the men were only appearing as presenters, the board gleaned a better understanding of their current cybersecurity situation and where they could go from here. The men promised that if the town of Salemburg would choose to adopt their computer program, they would be fit with the latest and greatest in equipment.
IPM was founded in Wilmington in 1993 and was later bought out by Rogers in 2004. The company started as a mobile IT service company before transitioning to systems management working with larger scale operations. In 2018, the company set its permanent headquarters in Wallace, where it has been located ever since.
The town’s board chose to review their options before committing to a decision, which will likely be made at the next town meeting. Updates on the town’s system will come as a decision is made.