Recipients include municipalities, school districts and public utility departments
BOSTON – State and local officials are celebrating the awarding of nearly $7 million in public safety grants to assist communities, school districts and other state and local government agencies across Massachusetts with addressing their most pressing cybersecurity needs.
House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading), State Representative Richard M. Haggerty (D-Woburn) and State Senator Jason M. Lewis (D-Winchester) noted the Town of Reading will receive or share in three grants totaling $152,070, including:
- a $38,370 grant awarded directly to the Town;
- a $35,000 grant awarded to the Reading Municipal Light Department (RMLD), which services customers in Reading, North Reading, Wilmington and Lynnfield; and
- a $78,700 grant awarded to the Northeast Metro Regional Vocational School, which includes Reading among its 12 member communities
The funding was recently announced by the Office of Grants and Research (OGR) within the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) as part of the Municipal Local Cybersecurity Grant Program and State Share Cybersecurity Grant Program. Both programs are funded through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Administration (CISA). This year marks the first time these grants have been awarded in Massachusetts.
“As both the frequency and sophistication of cyber threats increase, Reading is committed to bolstering our ability to respond appropriately and minimize potential damage caused by these bad actors,” said Reading Town Manager Matt Kraunelis. “Creating a cyber incident response plan with this funding will help ensure Reading is fully prepared to defend from these attacks with in-depth staff training, resources and formalized policies and best practices. Thank you to the State and our delegation for securing these important grants.”
“Cybersecurity remains an ongoing concern for municipalities and other government entities, given the increasing number of bad actors seeking to exploit weaknesses in their computer networks and databases to steal sensitive personal and financial information,” said Representative Jones. “These grant awards will help communities implement robust safeguards to prevent cyber-attacks and to quickly respond to these threats so their data infrastructure is not compromised.”
“In today’s digital landscape, our local governments, utilities, and educational institutions face increasing vulnerability to cyber-attacks,” said Representative Haggerty. “These grants are an important investment in protecting our communities’ sensitive information and essential services. By strengthening our cybersecurity infrastructure, we’re not just defending against potential attacks and enhancing our rapid response capabilities, but also ensuring the continued trust and confidence of the public in our ability to safeguard sensitive data as we stay ahead of the evolving cyber threats.”
“As threats from cyberattacks continue to increase in danger and frequency, we must bolster cybersecurity measures across the board to be better prepared to counteract attacks quickly and with as little lasting effect as possible,” said Senator Lewis. “Grants such as these will enhance local cybersecurity practices and resources to better protect Reading and its residents from cyberattacks.”
Reading’s grant will help to fund the development of a cyber incident response plan and tabletop exercises to address the “lack of structured policies and procedures” in this area so it can continue “to evolve as the nature of cyber threats changes.” The Town noted it currently lacks adequate resources but said “this grant would help to better position the Town and make strides towards that goal.”
The RMLD’s award will be used for multi-factor authentication (MFA) purposes, and to assist with the migration to a .gov domain and for a cyber incident response plan. According to the RMLD, it has “existing pressing cybersecurity needs that must be addressed to safeguard the information systems owned or operated by the Reading Municipal Light Department. The grant funding will play a pivotal role in addressing these cybersecurity risks and threats by providing the necessary resources to fully implement multi-factor authentication for all employees, bolster network monitoring capabilities, and enhance vulnerability detection and management across both IT and OT environments.”
The grant awarded to the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School will be used for MFA purposes, a cyber incident response plan, tabletop exercises, and cybersecurity training “to address critical gaps in our cybersecurity infrastructure and practices.” The school noted that the “district faces significant challenges in safeguarding our information systems and ensuring the resilience of our digital operations. By leveraging this grant funding to fulfill these objectives, we will significantly improve the cybersecurity posture of Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School, reduce our exposure to cyber risks, and better protect the sensitive information entrusted to us by our students, staff, and stakeholders.”
The Massachusetts Cybersecurity Planning Committee, which was formed as a requirement of receiving the federal funding, oversees the two grant programs. Applicants submitted requests for grant funding through a competitive process initiated by OGR earlier this year.
