Indiana Businesses Unite: Building Regional Cyber Defense Coalitions to Combat Sophisticated Interstate Criminal Networks in 2025

As cybercriminals increasingly operate across state lines with unprecedented sophistication, Indiana has emerged as a leader in creating innovative regional cybersecurity coalitions that bring businesses, government agencies, and security experts together to combat these evolving threats. The state’s proactive approach to cybersecurity collaboration is setting new standards for how organizations can work together to defend against interstate criminal networks that target critical infrastructure and business operations.

The Growing Threat of Interstate Cybercrime

In 2025, cybercriminals have evolved far beyond the stereotypical “basement hackers” of the past. Today’s nation-state cyber threats are becoming more active, aggressive, and sophisticated, with state-sponsored actors pursuing long-term strategic objectives, including stealing valuable intellectual property, gathering intelligence concerning political or military objectives, and seeking to influence public opinion in foreign countries. Criminal technical and personal networks continue to expand across regions, making it increasingly difficult to disrupt their online criminal activities, but joint operations supported by actionable insights are now more frequent, more sophisticated and increasingly effective in dismantling international criminal networks.

State, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments face a significant increase in cyber threats, with incidents like remote access trojans and complex malware attacks rising sharply in 2023, with most SLTTs having not yet achieved the cybersecurity maturity needed to effectively defend against these sophisticated attacks, largely due to limited resources and personnel shortages.

Indiana’s Statewide Cybersecurity Initiative

On January 13, 2025, Governor Mike Braun signed Executive Order 25-10, continuing the work of the Indiana Executive Council on Cybersecurity (IECC) with the recognition that a cross-sector body of subject-matter experts is required to form an understanding of Indiana’s cyber risk profile, identify priorities, establish a strategic framework of Indiana’s cybersecurity initiatives, and leverage the body of talent to stay on the forefront of the cyber risk environment.

Led by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Indiana Office of Technology, Indiana State Police, and the Indiana National Guard, the Council is made up of government (local, state, and federal), private-sector, military, research, and academic stakeholders to collaboratively move Indiana’s cybersecurity to the Next Level. With 35 Council members and more than 250 advisory members, the Council has positioned Indiana as a leader in implementing a cybersecurity program that serves all Hoosiers.

Regional Coalition Building and Public-Private Partnerships

Indiana’s approach emphasizes the critical importance of regional collaboration. The Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) Office of Cybersecurity coordinates the state’s cyber defense initiatives and provides incident response services when attacks are detected, while the state has implemented the Indiana Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IN-ISAC) to aggregate threat data and provide access to response resources for state and local governments.

The proposed expansion of collaborative frameworks presents a crucial opportunity to enhance collaboration, particularly among state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, and to bolster the overall cybersecurity baseline by taking decisive action to create a more resilient and secure nation, ensuring that critical infrastructure remains protected against the ever-growing array of cyber threats.

Business Participation and Industry Support

Companies like CTS Computers are playing a vital role in Indiana’s cybersecurity ecosystem. Since 1991, CTS Computers has been a leading provider of IT support and consulting, focusing on small and medium sized businesses in central Illinois and Indiana, helping hundreds of businesses increase productivity and profitability by making IT a streamlined part of operations and equipping clients with customized technology solutions for greater operational value and to reduce risk.

CTS Computers offers a broad suite of cybersecurity services designed to protect businesses of all sizes in Indianapolis, Danville, and Terre Haute, serving as a trusted partner in navigating the complex landscape of digital security. Their comprehensive approach includes advanced firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and virtual private networks (VPNs) to prevent unauthorized access and cyberattacks, robust data encryption, access controls, and data loss prevention (DLP) measures, and cloud-based security with access controls, data encryption, and security information and event management (SIEM) solutions.

For businesses seeking comprehensive cybersecurity indiana protection, these regional coalitions provide unprecedented access to threat intelligence, best practices, and coordinated incident response capabilities.

Addressing Workforce Challenges and Training

Indiana’s cybersecurity community recognizes the importance of workforce development, with events like TechPoint Secure Connect bringing together Indiana’s top cybersecurity professionals and forward-thinking organizations for focused convenings on the evolving threat landscape and workforce challenges, inviting cybersecurity professionals throughout the state to focus on the most important trends and developments impacting the cyber workforce.

The Indiana Cybersecurity Education and Training Network assesses the need for cybersecurity awareness and education in the state and provides feedback to the IDHS cyber safety initiatives. This comprehensive approach ensures that businesses have access not only to advanced security technologies but also to properly trained personnel who can effectively implement and manage these systems.

The Future of Regional Cyber Defense

The complexity of today’s cyber threats and evolving criminal methodologies requires a unified response that requires coordination not only from the global law enforcement community, but with cybersecurity experts who provide their own talents, experiences and expertise, with INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate supporting several regional and global cybercrime operations that were very successful in large part due to these collaborations, and teams continuing to pursue new partnerships and strengthen existing ones to have even greater impact disrupting cybercriminal activity.

Indiana’s statewide cybersecurity initiative represents a model for how states can effectively coordinate public and private sector resources to combat sophisticated interstate criminal networks. By fostering collaboration between businesses, government agencies, and security experts, Indiana is creating a more resilient cybersecurity ecosystem that benefits all participants.

As cyber threats continue to evolve and cross state boundaries with increasing frequency, Indiana’s approach to regional coalition building offers valuable insights for other states looking to strengthen their own cybersecurity postures. The success of these initiatives depends on continued collaboration, information sharing, and the commitment of businesses and organizations to work together in defending against common threats.

For Indiana businesses, participating in these regional cyber defense coalitions isn’t just about protecting individual organizations—it’s about contributing to a statewide security framework that makes the entire business ecosystem more resilient against the sophisticated criminal networks that threaten our digital infrastructure.