EOTSS announces 4th offering of Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program

The Executive Office of Technology Services and Security has launched the fourth Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Training Grant Program, with online applications due by Dec. 31.

The program is open to municipalities, public school districts, libraries, police departments, fire departments, water districts, planning commissions, and municipally run utility departments and airports.

The program promotes overall cybersecurity posture through evaluation, end-user training, and threat simulation. The Office of Municipal and School Technology, within EOTSS, procures and manages the program, which is free to participating organizations.

As a prerequisite for joining the program, participating organizations must demonstrate leadership buy-in, obtain commitment from staff to participate in the program, and assign a local coordinator, who will collaborate with EOTSS to administer the program.

The training tracks have been modified for 2023 to better serve participating organizations. Each track delivers training and threat simulations (phishing campaigns).
• The Year-Long Training Track, the most popular offering, will take place from January through December.
• The Abbreviated Training Track Option 1, a shortened version of the year-long track, will take place from January through May.
• The Abbreviated Training Track Option 2, a shortened version of the year-long track, will take place from September through December.

Additional details, including a short video featuring participating communities talking about the training, are available on the Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Training Grant Program website. Questions may be emailed to cyberawarenessgrant@mass.gov.

Informational webinars
Informational webinar sessions will be held via Zoom on Oct. 18 and 25 to provide details on the Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant and answer questions about the program.

The webinars are optional and will cover the same agenda on each date. A recording of the webinar is expected to be posted on the website.

Register online for the Oct. 18 webinar.

Register online for the Oct. 25 webinar.

The webinars will be held from noon to 1 p.m.