Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Gary Peters, D-Mich., Ron Johnson., Wis.., and James Lankford, R-Okla., have presented a bill that aims to bolster the cybersecurity of local governments via further implementation of the .gov domain.
The DOTGOV Online Trust in Government Act would task the Department of Homeland of Security to help local governments adopt the .gov for email addresses and websites, Klobuchar’s office said Wednesday.
The bill would provide for resources and support that local governments require to employ the .gov domain.
“When official government websites use the .gov domain instead of alternatives like .us or .com, it makes those government websites and email addresses more secure,” Klobuchar said.
Cyber actors make false duplicates of government websites that do not use .gov, allowing these criminals to conduct information scams. The .gov domain makes it difficult for cyber actors to duplicate official government websites, Klobuchar’s office noted.
