The St. Lucie County Tax Collector's Office (TCSLC) is an independent constitutional office in Florida serving more than 470,000 customers and processing over 670,000 transactions a year. Its budget is approved by the Department of Revenue rather than the Board of County Commissioners. The office operates from three locations: the main office in Fort Pierce, the Tradition branch in Port St. Lucie and the Walton Road branch, handling tax payments and DMV-related transactions.

In October 2023 the St. Lucie County Tax Collector's Office suffered a significant cyber-attack that disrupted services and exposed vulnerabilities in its IT infrastructure. The office had originally managed its own servers locally but had migrated to the county's virtual network with the goal of improving management and security. That decision created many challenges once the attack hit, as leaders tried to maintain continuity of service.

In the months that followed, the office improvised with every available resource. It used the state of Florida's FlowMobile buses to complete DMV-related transactions and relied on hotspots with laptops to handle tax payments. Those months proved more challenging for the office than operating during COVID-19.

At the same time, TCSLC needed to deploy advanced security measures across its three locations and find an IT security expert that could redesign its domain, restore each office safely and defend against future threats. Tax Collector Chris Craft had first become aware of Thrive through the company's involvement with Florida's state network, and a recommendation from a Polk County official with first-hand experience of Thrive proved incredibly valuable.

Thrive, a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP), was chosen for its strong reputation and proven track record with complex security issues. It redesigned the office's IT domain to bolster security, implementing next-generation firewalls and managed detection and response (MDR) solutions for end users, Office 365, network devices and patching services. Thrive also provided vulnerability scanning, set up private cloud infrastructure with secure servers and storage, and enhanced the office's data protection measures.

Restoration was phased across the three office locations. The Tradition branch in Port St. Lucie served as a temporary lifeboat while forensics were completed on the main network at the Fort Pierce office. A new firewall at the Tradition branch allowed the office to isolate that network and gradually restore services while protecting the rest of its operations. It took about two and a half weeks to reopen the Tradition office, another week to get Fort Pierce operational and a further week to bring the Walton Road branch back into operation, with each location restored according to the necessary processes and procedures.

Thrive's 24/7 network monitoring now adds a continuous layer of protection so that potential threats are promptly detected and addressed. Alongside the technical work, Thrive's professional guidance and real-life examples helped the office make informed decisions about cybersecurity best practices.

• Three offices restored in phases: Tradition in about two and a half weeks, Fort Pierce and Walton Road a week each
• Redesigned IT domain with next-generation firewalls and MDR covering end users, Office 365, network devices and patching
• 24/7 network monitoring ensures potential threats are promptly detected and addressed
• Vulnerability scanning, private cloud servers and storage, and enhanced data protection strengthen resilience against future threats
• Office now encourages other Florida tax collectors to examine its new domain and consider partnering with Thrive