Jack Murrin, intentionally or not, put a bug in commissioners ears this morning that IT security has come a long way in the past three years, but there is a long road ahead to maximize security at GSP.
To emphasize Murrin’s point, he included “awareness training for staff” on his list of to-dos at GSP.
“We must tell our employees not to pick up found USBs in the parking lot and stick them in the computer,” said Murrin, Chief Financial Officer at Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport at Greer. “Employees are 60 percent likely to stick a USB into the computer and if it has a brand or logo on it, it’s 90 percent more likely they will put it in.”
Murrin was presenting an IT security update to the GSP Board of Commissioners.
“We have come a long way in the past three years, with one IT person and a $20,000 budget,” Murrin said. “I was the IT person. Now we have two on staff and they have taken us light years ahead.” Murrin’s report illustrated the fragility of the regional airport.
The presentation was particularly timely with the South Carolina Department of Revenue getting hacked last Oct. 10 with a security breach compromising 3.6 million Social Security numbers. That attack also exposed 387,000 credit and debit card numbers.
Murrin said he communicated with the DOR inquiring about GSP’s status with the hacking incident. “I was satisfied with the DOR answers,” he said, without elaborating.
“We want to make it as hard as we can as fast as we can to prevent hacking into the GSP system,” Murrin said. “We’re probably getting attacked tens of thousands of times per month. The origins of these threats are worldwide.”
GSP commissioners authorized the staff to finalize an agreement with the South Carolina Ports Authority (SCPA) for the sale and/or lease of certain Airport District Property at a $28,500 per acre to SCPA for the Inland Port Project.
Dave Edwards, President/CEO of Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer was given the authority to execute the necessary documents subject to review by legal counsel.
The commissioners announced the move following executive session after its regular meeting this morning.
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