The department will be headed by Nevada’s now former cyber defense coordination administrator. The state also renamed the Office of the Chief Information Officer, to reflect its broadening mission.
Nevada is taking new steps to address cybersecurity strategy by creating an office dedicated to digital security — mirroring a broader national shift of state governments taking more control over digital security amid evolving responsibilities.
Its ongoing work officially began Tuesday, the start of operations for the Office of Information Security and Cyber Defense (OISCD), a new division under the Office of the Chief Information Officer — itself now renamed as the Governor’s Technology Office (GTO), the state said on LinkedIn.
The new name communicates the office’s “statewide reach,” to locals, 3 million residents and across the executive branch, according to the LinkedIn post from the GTO; changes will also include a new Technology Investment Evaluation system, to take on new tech “with the same cautious optimism.”
“OISCD centralizes the heavy lift — 24/7 monitoring, advanced threat hunting, statewide incident-response playbooks — so agencies can focus on mission delivery,” state CIO Tim Galluzi said via email. “We’re pulling duplicative work up to the enterprise level rather than adding new burdens.”
Day-to-day agency IT teams will, he said, designate security liaisons, adopt OISCD’s minimum-security standards as they are published, and connect to the shared Security Operations Center (SOC) for alerts in real time.
The office’s creation — with its baseline functions state-funded to ensure stability independent of federal dollars — reflects a focus on shared mission and dependability, the CIO said.
“Modernization isn’t just new apps — it’s trust and resilience. OISCD is the security backbone of our cloud-smart, data-driven agenda,” Galluzi said. “By embedding zero-trust principles, shared services, and continuous monitoring at the enterprise level, we strive to mitigate risk for every modernization project the state launches.” The vision, the CIO said, is for local governments to be able to opt in to the feed from the statewide SOC when it is operational, and utilize other state threat intelligence services.
Created under state Senate Bill 467, OISCD is charged with managing statewide cybersecurity, leading incident response, and shoring up digital infrastructure across agencies.
Adam Miller, who joined Nevada’s government in 2024 as cyber defense coordination administrator, will lead OISCD as its inaugural deputy director. His background includes time as senior policy adviser to the principal cyber adviser for the U.S. Army, and as legislative liaison for the U.S. Cyber Command.
In his new role, Miller’s responsibilities will include managing incident response with state and federal agencies, heading threat and vulnerability efforts, and ensuring all state entities are meeting security standards. His office will also support cyber awareness training programs for government staff and create reports to be reviewed by the state Legislature.
The new deputy director emphasized the importance of the OISCD to expand Nevada’s cybersecurity efforts through stronger coordination and via in-house and external engagement.
“The state is still exploring what exactly a statewide security operations center will look like,” Miller said via email, indicating partners including the University of Nevada, Las Vegas are examining the issue. “At the end of the day, the goal is to provide a statewide solution that services all of Nevada, state agency and locality alike.”
Ashley Silver is a staff writer for Government Technology. She holds an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Montevallo and a graduate degree in public relations from Kent State University. Silver is also a published author with a wide range of experience in editing, communications and public relations.
