Cape County commissioners approve new IT software, online archive records

Cape Girardeau County commissioners approved going after a new type of network software at their Monday, Feb. 3, meeting. Eric McGowen, the county’s information technology director, said it would help security measures.

“We are always trying to improve our security footprint. It’s the most important thing that we do,” McGowen said. “We try to do that in layers. We protect our edges. We protect our endpoints. We segment.”

He is looking at acquiring log consolidation software that can preserve forensics. This would allow his department to address any issues that arise.

“It’s impossible to monitor everything at one time individually. We’ve been looking for a piece of software that would consolidate all of those in real time. We can customize parameters and have it alert us when something’s going on,” McGowen said.

A one-year license for the software costs $21,675.39, and McGowen said it had already been budgeted last year. He could not provide the software’s name for security reasons but said it would be a good tool for the county to have.

Other business

The commissioners also approved adding the 2022 to 2024 County Commission minutes to the Cape Girardeau County Archive Center online database.

Currently, commission minutes stretching from 1811 until 2021 are searchable on the database. The commission authorized ArcaSearch, a digital archiving company based in St. Cloud, Minnesota, to accomplish this task at the cost of $520.

Additionally, the commissioners approved bidding for new copiers for the County Clerk’s Office.

They also allotted $2.02 million to Penzel Construction of Jackson for ongoing new jail construction. The amount came from American Rescue Plan Act funding.