Open access
LOCAL CYBERSECURITY – LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS FACING THE THREATS OF THE DIGITAL ERA
Wojciech MINCEWICZ1
Publication language: English
scientific paper
Guests Editors of the Issue Tomasz Herudziński, Wojciech Mincewicz
Transformations No. 4(127)2025, Publication date: 30 December 2025
Keywords: cybersecurity, digital resilience, local government, public administration, risk man-agement, digital competencies, security culture
Abstract This article addresses the issue of cybersecurity in local government units in Poland, analyzing the preparedness of local administration to respond to increas-ing cyber threats during 2018–2024. The aim of the study is to identify the main barriers and factors shaping digital resilience at the municipal level, and to propose a model for assessing maturity in this area. Based on an analysis of legal acts, reports from institutions such as the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), publications by NASK, and academic research, it was shown that most local government units still imple-ment reactive measures, focusing on meeting formal requirements rather than strate-gically managing risk. Key deficits include insufficient staff competencies, a low level of security culture, limited inter-institutional cooperation, and financial con-straints. The article proposes a model of digital resilience for local governments based on four pillars: leadership and governance, organizational competencies and culture, risk management processes, and technological infrastructure. This model enables the diagnosis of the cybersecurity maturity level of local government units and supports the formulation of recommendations for the development of infor-mation security management systems. The findings highlight the need to shift from a reactive to a systemic approach, integrating technical, organizational, and social dimensions of digital security. Digital resilience should be treated as an element of strategic local development management and as one of the foundations of state secu-rity in the era of digital transformation.
Department of Sociology, Institute of Sociological Sciences and Pedagogy, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland
ORCID: 0000-0003-0460-9158
E-mail: wojciech_mincewicz@sggw.edu.p