THU AM News: Wisconsin’s cybersecurity could use improvement, experts say; WMC announces top 8 finalists in Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest

October 9, 2025

— Wisconsin has a lot of areas to improve on when it comes to cybersecurity, including gaps in statutory definitions, AI use and collaboration between groups, experts say.

A panel of experts during an Assembly Science, Technology, and AI Committee informational hearing yesterday provided several hours of insight into the current state of cybersecurity in Wisconsin. While the state does a good job with responding to and investigating cyberattacks, there is room for improvement when it comes to proactively preventing cyberattacks, experts said.

Mike Wyatt, Deloitte’s cybersecurity leader for state, local and higher education, noted the FBI identified cyber crime cost Wisconsin about $160 million of the roughly $16.6 billion in losses across the country.

But the state could work to improve its outlook by working toward a whole of state model where municipal, county and state governments collaborate and share data.

“From a policy perspective, whole-of-state is absolutely critical and needs to be top of mind,” Wyatt said. “Legislators in New York, Oregon, Iowa, Texas and a number of other states have established cross-government cyber policies with common standards, shared funding and statewide training. A robust, scalable approach that Wisconsin may wish to consider.”

Deficiencies in state law also make it harder for investigators to track down cyber criminals, Department of Justice Special Agent Drew Schoeneck said.

“A lot of those crimes are considered misdemeanors, and if you have a really bad hacker that just attempts to do something and actually doesn’t get all the way in, it might not even be considered a crime,” he said.

Schoeneck also said Wisconsin has a loose definition of cryptocurrency, which makes it difficult to seize criminal assets sometimes, and current law makes it difficult to quickly and easily obtain information on IP addresses of suspected criminals.

Wisconsin, like everywhere else nowadays, is also vulnerable to cyberattackers using AI to glean as much information as possible from public reports and meetings, Trevor Johnson, head of Google’s midwest division for state and local government, said.

“There were references [earlier in the hearing] to using AI in order to read some of the Legislative Audit Bureau reports,” he said. “Unfortunately, malicious actors will also use AI to read those reports and understand, ‘Where might I be able to find a nugget that will help me get into this particular system.’ They’re using it for research. They can even use AI on top of videos or recordings of sessions such as this one; understand what things might be said that might give me a vector to get at some information.”

And while companies such as Google, Microsoft and others have created safeguards to block malicious actors from prompting AI to create a piece of code to penetrate a system, those malicious actors are also always working on ways to circumvent the safeguards, Johnson added.

Unifying all the different IT systems used across the state and using AI to help summarize potential threats and abnormalities was one of Johnson’s three recommendations to reduce cybersecurity risks. His second was to periodically check within IT systems to make sure nobody is logged into the system who isn’t supposed to be.

“I know the state is on a journey such as this already, but really being able to understand, how do we not just worry about the moat and the outside of our castle, but how do we continually have checks within our castle to make sure the people that are here, the people that are in our systems, are the people who are supposed to be in the systems, he said.

His third recommendation was “focusing on getting proactive training and ensuring that everybody has the right information in their hands and the actions for how to use it in order to truly bolster the state of Wisconsin from a cyber security posture.”

Watch the hearing here.

— The Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin on the same day outside of the hearing offered some tips and resources on cybersecurity at home.

Setting your Wi-Fi router up with a guest network including a special login for visitors is one way to keep unwanted visitors from accessing private information on your internet service provider. The BBB also recommended frequently updating devices to make sure security patches for phones, computers and other technology is up to date.

Practicing good password hygiene by keeping passwords organized, using strong passwords and using multi-factor authentication is another way to ensure security.

With scams targeting smart devices such as smart TVs and AI voice assistants on the rise, the BBB recommended staying up to date on the latest tactics too.

See more tips in the release here.

— Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce announced the top eight finalists in the annual Coolest Thing Made in Wisconsin contest.

After nearly 150 products were nominated for the contest in the 10th annual competition, it’s down to just eight. Each of the current finalists won a head-to-head matchup in the bracket-style tournament to get there, and they’ll each face off again to whittle it down to just four. Voting for the next round starts today and ends at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The final winner of the whole contest will be announced at WMC’s Business Day event in Madison on Oct. 23.

The top eight finalists are:

Carbliss made by Carbliss in Plymouth;
Search and Rescue 1000 Island Airboat made by 1000 Island Airboats in Marion;
Comfort Custom Seating System made by Permobil in New Berlin;
The Maple Shot 10 pack carton The Maple Dude in Granton;
38 VTR made be Cruisers Yachts in Oconto;
Sargento Natural American Sliced Cheese made by Sargento in Plymouth;
Kikkoman Soy Sauce made by Kikkoman Foods, Inc. in Walworth; and
Extrication Tools made by TNT Rescue Systems in Hartland.

See the release here.

— Waukesha County Technical College’s School of Business in cooperation with WisBusiness is hosting a “Talking Trade” podcast next month on international trade and the opportunities and challenges posted by tariffs.

Podcast Co-host Ken Wasylik, managing director of E.M. Wasylik Associates, will lead the Nov. 4 talk in Pewaukee..

Panelists include:

Sandi Siegel, fellow “Talking Trade” co-host, and president and managing director, M.E. Dey & Co.;
Jake Boniface, senior buyer at Eaton Corporation and a WCTC graduate; and
Susan Dragotta, Supply Chain and Global Business Instructor in WCTC’s School of Business.

The event is free, but pre-registration is required here.

— Forward BIOLABS launched a new Innovation to Commercialization Pipeline program to help early-stage biohealth companies grow.

The ICP program aims to provide emerging companies the tools, resources and support they need to scale. Forward BIOLABS is urging all types of emerging biotech companies to apply.

“To succeed, these emerging companies need support to hit key milestones that help them secure initial investment from Wisconsin’s early-stage investors, and continued support to bridge the gap in attracting additional capital from investors nationwide,” CEO Jessica Martin Eckerly said. “The ICP program was created to help close these gaps and position Wisconsin’s biohealth companies for growth.”

See the release here.

— The Medical College of Wisconsin announced its Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment will fund 44 new projects.

The Momentum Grants make up more than $10 million and cover expenses incurred during a 24-month period starting in November this year. Applications were reviewed by the MCW Consortium on Public and Community Health, the AHW Research and Education Advisory Committee and the MCW Board of Trustees. Each applicant could apply for up to $250,000 per grant.

Projects include advancing mental health initiatives for Wisconsin veterans, filling gaps in social services for seniors, reducing underage drinking, improving outcomes for women with breast cancer, treating sleep apnea and more.

Community-based organizations took in 26 of the grants, totalling $6.4 million with 12 projects focused on statewide research, nine focused on urban centers and five focused on rural communities.

Research projects made up the other 18 grants, with $4.5 million going toward studying and improving health care research.

“Operating within the Medical College of Wisconsin, we are able to fuel the best work in community health improvement throughout the state while also advancing the very latest biomedical and health science—all in fulfillment of our mission to improve the lives of all Wisconsinites,” AHW Executive Director Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld said.

See the release here.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

Sign up here.

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