Two more eastern Lake County communities have implemented cybersecurity programs to comply with a statewide mandate. Perry Village and North Perry Village councils both approved policies at recent meetings to prevent and respond to online attacks of their computer systems. These programs are essentially identical, perhaps stemming from the fact that they were drafted by the same attorney. James O’Leary serves as North Perry Village solicitor and held the same position in Perry Village until he resigned at conclusion of that council’s June 18 meeting. O’Leary had announced plans in December of last year to step down as Perry’s solicitor later in 2026, so his departure was expected. Perry and North Perry Village councils authorized the cybersecurity plans in response to requirements arising from Ohio House Bill 96. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill on June 30 and it took effect three months later. The law requires each Ohio political subdivision’s legislative authority to adopt a cybersecurity program “that safeguards the entity’s data, information technology, and information technology resources to ensure availability, confidentiality and integrity,” according to the cyber.ohio.gov website The state declared that local government entities such as townships and villages in Ohio must adopt and implement cybersecurity programs by July 1. Counties and cities had until Jan. 1 to accomplish that same goal. Perry and North Perry villages both contract with the Lake County Information Technology to provide managed IT services, including the administration and oversight of the new cybersecurity programs. Each community’s government will designate an employee “as a point of contact for cybersecurity matters and this person coordinates with Lake County IT on policy review, incident response and compliance obligations,” according to documents from both villages. Other matters addressed in the villages’ cybersecurity programs which also are required by Ohio law include: • Ransomware demands will