The National League of Cities launched an initiative Tuesday to help local governments improve their cybersecurity, partnering with North Carolina-based IT services firm CyberAlliance to provide practical guidance for under-resourced agencies. The program aims to help officials prioritize security solutions and explain cyber risks to elected leaders, insurers, and the public.
The initiative comes as local governments face mounting threats to critical infrastructure. Last month, reports detailed cyberattacks, likely originating from Iran, that compromised water utilities in at least a dozen states. Municipalities operate much of the nation's water and wastewater plants, often without dedicated cybersecurity staff or sufficient funding.
Clarence E. Anthony, the league's chief executive, said the project's goal is to offer its membership "practical guidance," not increase the complexity of their organizations. "Our partnership with CyberAlliance is about providing local governments with the knowledge and resources that local leaders need to make informed decisions that create strong, resilient essential public services," he said in a press release.
How Sally AI works
The initiative will use Sally AI, a cybersecurity platform developed by CyberAlliance that "transforms technical cybersecurity information into clear recommendations city leaders can understand and act upon," according to the company. CyberAlliance's website depicts Sally as a caped, smiling robot that "turns fragmented signals … into board-ready decisions."
The platform is designed to address a common problem in local government: security alerts and technical data that mean little to officials without specialized training. Sally condenses that information into actionable steps, helping city staff respond to threats without expanding their teams.
For professionals working in government, the initiative signals a shift toward accessible security tools rather than complex enterprise systems. Officials who understand the specific threats facing their agencies - and can articulate those risks to budget decision-makers - will be better positioned to secure funding and support. The program also gives under-resourced municipalities a path to address vulnerabilities without hiring additional cybersecurity staff, an outcome that matters as threats to public infrastructure continue to rise.
Related training resources for government professionals include AI for Government and AI for Cybersecurity Analysts, which cover practical applications of AI in public-sector security roles.
Why this matters for government professionals
City and county employees responsible for IT, water systems, or public safety should track how their agencies respond to this initiative. The program offers a template for translating technical vulnerabilities into language elected officials and insurers understand - a skill that becomes essential as attackers target municipal infrastructure with increasing frequency. Agencies that adopt tools like Sally AI may also set expectations for how other municipalities evaluate and procure cybersecurity support.
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