Sneak Preview: FEMA Offers $280M Through Cybersecurity Program

(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is making available almost $280 million in federal fiscal year (FY) 2024 funding to states and U.S. territories under the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) (Assistance Listings No. 97.137), which aims to assist state, local and territorial governments with managing and reducing systemic cyber risk by using funding for cybersecurity plans and projects, and to address program objectives.

Authorized by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Pub. L. 107-296), as amended by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58), SLCGP has four main objectives, and applicants must submit applications that address at least one of the following objectives:

• develop and establish appropriate governance structures, including by developing, implementing or revising state cybersecurity plans, to improve capabilities to respond to cybersecurity incidents and ensure continuity of operations;
• understand the current cybersecurity capabilities and areas for improvement in the state based on continuous testing, evaluation and structured assessments;
• implement security protections commensurate with risk; and
• ensure organization personnel are appropriately trained in cybersecurity, commensurate with responsibility.

“Our nation faces unprecedented cybersecurity risks, including increasingly sophisticated adversaries, widespread vulnerabilities in commonly used hardware and software, and broad dependencies on networked technologies for the day-to-day operation of critical infrastructure,” FEMA states in a recent SLCGP notice of funding opportunity (NOFO). “Cyber risk management is further complicated by the ability of malicious actors to operate remotely, linkages between cyber and physical systems, and the difficulty of reducing vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure. Considering the risk and potential consequences of cyber incidents, strengthening the cybersecurity practices and resilience of state, local and territorial governments is an important homeland security mission and the primary focus” of the program.

(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)

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