Lynnfield Receives State Cybersecurity Grant

House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones, Jr. (R-North Reading), State Senator Brendan P. Crighton (D-Lynn) and Select Board Chair Phil Crawford announced today that the Town of Lynnfield has been awarded a state-funded Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness grant to train town employees in identifying and avoiding cyber threats.

Administered by the Office of Municipal and School Technology (OMST) within the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS), the 2023 Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program (MCAGP) is supported by $250,000 in capital funds authorized by the Legislature as part of a 2020 general government infrastructure bond bill.

This year’s grant program will provide over 50,000 municipal and school district employees in Massachusetts with end-user training, evaluation, and threat simulation to improve their cybersecurity readiness and ability to detect and avoid cyber threats. Lynnfield’s grant award will provide training for 140 municipal employees.

“With municipalities and school districts facing a constant threat from ransomware, phishing attempts and other malicious cyber-attacks, it is important to be able to not only identify and respond to these attacks, but also to take proactive steps to prevent them,” said Representative Jones. “Lynnfield’s grant will provide town employees with the critical training needed to protect sensitive information contained in the town’s databases from being compromised.”

“Cyber-attacks are a rapidly growing threat facing our society and if successful, they can have extremely detrimental impacts on local governments and the residents that they serve,” said Senator Crighton. “This grant is a great step to ensure that we are doing all we can to prepare for and defend against these potential attacks.”

“With the increasing reports of cyber-criminals targeting municipalities, this grant will help ensure Lynnfield residents that the Town is fully prepared for any attempts to gain access to Town funds and records,” said Select Board Chair Crawford. “The Town of Lynnfield is very appreciative of this initiative.”

Now in its fourth year, the Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program is open to Massachusetts cities and towns, public school districts, libraries, police and fire departments, water districts, planning commissions, and municipally-run utility departments, airports and housing authorities, as well as the Massachusetts Public Pension Systems (PERAC). Grant applicants must demonstrate support from top leadership within the government agency and a commitment that participating employees will complete the training exercises offered throughout the duration of the program.