# Counties and Colleges Flag AI Identity Risks

Cybersecurity leaders from Loudoun County and Berkeley College warned that AI agents can create identity-management risks because they can interpret objectives, choose tools, and act beyond the predictable behavior of traditional service accounts. They emphasized tested recovery capabilities, behavioral monitoring, and explicit controls over agent authority. The signal describes a market need, not a specific solicitation, for identity resilience and AI-agent security solutions serving local governments and higher-education institutions.

- Organizations procuring AI-agent capabilities can evaluate how proposed solutions govern agent permissions and monitor behavior, rather than relying on credential controls alone.
- Contractors offering directory recovery and identity-resilience services can position tested recovery capabilities for local-government and higher-education customers.
- Procurement teams can translate the leaders’ concerns into evaluation areas such as recovery testing, privileged-access governance, and monitoring of agent activity.

**Jurisdictions:** sled
**Industries:** Information Technology, Education
**Topics:** Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence
**Published:** October 11, 2026

### Government Entities
- Loudoun County

### Key Quotes
> An AI agent isn’t just another service account. A traditional service account is going to perform a predictable task, where an agent can then interpret an objective, choose its own tools, and take action. We really have to govern its authority, not only with the credentials.
> — Dana Kilcrease, Chief Information Security Officer, Berkeley College

> Governance without recovery is an illusion.
> — Dr. Elizabeth Di Bene, Chief Information Security Officer, Loudoun County

### Sources
- [From Counties to Campuses, the Next AI Crisis May Begin With a Trusted Identity - Cybersecurity Insiders](https://www.cybersecurity-insiders.com/from-counties-to-campuses-the-next-ai-crisis-may-begin-with-a-trusted-identity) - Cybersecurity Insiders