The announcement comes as schools nationwide face more frequent and more severe cyber attacks. Just last month, several ransomware attacks canceled classes in Massachusetts. Attacks disrupted public schools in Swansea early January, and Nantucket Public Schools late in the month.
Massachusetts’ $250,000 Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program is funding the cybersecurity trainings. The state released its list of grantees today, naming 177 municipal and school district recipients.
Grantees will receive free licenses for cybersecurity strength assessments as well as periodic phishing simulations and online end-user training modules. These aim to foster cyber-safe habits and attune employees to the potential ways malicious actors may try to gain access to systems.
The grant program “is provided at no cost, and is crafted to fit into the hectic and busy schedules that municipal officials, teachers and administrative staff have,” Lt. Gov. Kimberley Driscoll said in a press release statement.
The state Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS) and its Office of Municipal and School Technology administer the grant. They’ll also send recipients “quarterly threat briefings and weekly newsletters with cybersecurity best practices and program updates." The program will also will also send municipal IT officials monthly reports on their organizations’ progress, including the number of employees who fell for the phishing simulations and clicked on mock-malicious links.
Local governments that didn’t receive this grant have other opportunities to get support. The press release notes several other state resources:
