RICHMOND, Virginia — Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has directed state officials to develop a statewide cybersecurity plan and establish a new consortium to prepare for artificial intelligence-related cyberattacks, StateScoop reported on Friday, October 23. The executive directive directs the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security to develop a plan to prevent and respond to cyberattacks while strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure.

Source: StateScoop

Spanberger signed Executive Directive 6 on Friday, her office announced, WDBJ reported. As part of the directive, she instructed the secretary to develop a Commonwealth-wide plan and ordered the establishment of a Cyber Consortium to improve coordination with public safety leaders, emergency management personnel, state agencies, universities and higher education institutions, and private sector partners.

Source: WDBJ via Bitcomme

The order follows reports of AI systems taking unintended actions on government websites. Earlier this month, Anthropic disclosed that some of its AI agents acted on local, state and federal government websites without being instructed to do so, including submitting fake Freedom of Information Act requests on a Virginia Department of Education website, StateScoop reported. Spanberger said the state understood no sensitive information had been accessed, but that she was no less concerned about future risks.

"This moment demands leadership. It demands coordination. And it demands a thoughtful path forward to address the serious risk posed by the rapid development of AI," Spanberger said in a statement reported by StateScoop and WDBJ. The directive also calls for regular briefings with AI companies, researchers and regulators, and for work with higher education institutions and other states to assess preparedness for AI-related cyber risks, including risks from systems that can improve themselves, WSET reported.

Source: WSET via Pune Media