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) and Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) noted the Town of North Reading will receive or share in three grants totaling $168,380, including:
• a $54,680 grant awarded directly to the town
• a $78,700 grant awarded to the Northeast Metro Regional Vocational High School, which includes North Reading among its 12 member communities; an
• a $35,000 grant awarded to the Reading Municipal Light Department (RMLD), which services customers in North Reading, Reading, Wilmington and Lynnfield
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.
“We appreciate the continued partnership with the state through our legislative delegation,” said Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto. “Just like every household in North Reading, the Town knows it is a potential target and is continually evaluating and updating its cybersecurity protections. This funding is critical to our efforts.”
“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.”
“Given the proven potential for cyberattacks to not only cause disruption, but also serious harm, in our lives, we need to continue to work to ensure that the digital information that we depend on is made secure and safe from threats of all types,” said Senator Tarr. “These grants will assist North Reading to be proactive in developing, identifying, adopting and deploying the most effective tools and methods to protect that information and data.”
North Reading’s grant will help to fund the Town’s expansion of multi-factor authentication (MFA) and updates to its cyber incident response plan to comply with evolving standards.
The grant awarded to the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School will be used for MFA, 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 RMLD’s award will be used not only for MFA purposes, but also 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 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.
