County website repositioned as part of security upgrades
The effort began in 2022 as a way to safeguard against hackers.
The effort began in 2022 as a way to safeguard against hackers.
Westmoreland County has a new address.
While the county courthouse remains at the same location in downtown Greensburg where it has stood for the last century, it has a new home on the web.
In what officials said is a move to enhance security, the county announced it transitioned to new internet domain specifically used for government agencies. Its new web address is now www. westmorelandcountypa.gov.
Richard Svesnik, deputy director of the county’s information systems, said Monday the move is the culmination of a years-long process that started in 2022 as part of an effort to prevent hacking, upgrade security and give additional assurances to the public that information sent from a county web address is authentic.
“If you see a .gov address you know you it’s a government website. For the public you can look at the domain and see it’s from us,” Svesnik said.
The .gov domain address was authorized by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency. Westmoreland County paid $400 for the new address. The county’s old web address will continue to automatically link users to the new site.
Additional online security has been a priority, Svesnik said. Hacks and other data breaches in the last year have affected government agencies in Allegheny, Beaver and Washington counties as well as the state court system.
Svesnik said Westmoreland so far has had no online intrusions, but work continues to ensure the county continues to update its security measures. Plans are in place to implement security procedures for all 1,700 county workers in 2025 with an estimated price tag of about $400,000.
The new web domain comes at the same time a redesigned county website was completed.
Officials unveiled a soft launch of the website in May with new photos and a modernized look that includes an updated county logo. The county pays $60,000 annually to a private firm, CivicPlus of Manhattan, Kansas, to host the website. CivicPlus provides hosting services for government sites across the U.S.
