(BOSTON 2/7/2024) — In late January, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced the recipients of the 2024 Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program. Administered by the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security and its Office of Municipal and School Technology, this program will provide 78,000 employees from 227 municipalities and public school districts across Massachusetts, including those in Auburn, Millbury, Westborough, and Worcester, with critical cybersecurity training to better detect and avoid cyber threats.
The 2024 Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program is designed to support local government efforts to improve overall cyber readiness through comprehensive online end-user training, evaluation, and threat simulation. Awarded communities will receive licenses for end-user training, assessment and phishing simulation procured by the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS).
“The importance of keeping our municipal networks secure cannot be overstated,” said Senator Michael Moore (D-Millbury). “Secure networks are critical to protecting the personal information of residents, keeping our utilities running, making sure paychecks are delivered on time, and so much more. Municipal employees in town halls and public schools across Massachusetts are on the front lines of the fight against cyber criminals, and grants such as these will go a long way toward helping workers recognize malicious digital actors. I’d like to thank the Healey-Driscoll Administration for awarding these important grants.”
“Our administration is committed to partnering with our municipalities to move forward on our shared IT and cybersecurity goals” said Governor Maura Healey. “We are thrilled to see so many cities and towns prioritize cyber readiness through the Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Training Grant Program.”
Program participants begin their training with an initial cyber strength assessment to measure baseline cybersecurity awareness. Following the assessments, periodic assessments consisting of training modules and simulated phishing email campaigns help participants build good cyber hygiene habits to increase their awareness of deceptive techniques used by bad actors to gain unauthorized access to government systems. At the end of the program, participants complete a final cyber strength assessment to measure their progress.
Recipients in the Second Worcester District include the Town of Auburn, Auburn Public Schools, the Town of Millbury, Millbury Public Schools, the Town of Westborough, the City of Worcester, and Worcester Public Schools.
The Commonwealth offers the training program free to municipal organizations, who are further supported with quarterly threat briefings and weekly newsletters with cybersecurity best practices and program updates provided by the EOTSS Office of Municipal and School Technology. Municipal information technology officials also receive monthly summary progress reports that detail the number of employees who inadvertently clicked on malicious links contained in the simulated phishing emails, offering important visibility on the threat landscape.
In addition to the Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program, The Healey-Driscoll Administration offers a number of other programs to further support municipal officials in their cybersecurity and information technology modernization efforts, including a Free Cybersecurity Health Check Program, the Community Compact IT Grant Program, and the Community Compact Municipal Fiber Grant Program.
For more on the Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program, visit: https://www.mass.gov/municipal-cybersecurity-awareness-grant-program.
For more information on the full list of municipal cybersecurity and IT program offerings from the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security’s Office of Municipal and School Technology, visit: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/all-office-of-municipal-and-school-technology-omst-programs.
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