Amherst Awarded Cybersecurity Grant

Source: amherstma.gov

Amherst has been selected to participate in the Massachusetts’ Cybersecurity Awareness program. This program will make available to town employees, end-user cybersecurity training, assessment, and simulation tools, which will be administered by the Massachusetts Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS) and a third-party vendor. 

The one-year program will build on education provided to staff over the last year, made possible by a previous award from the State and is expected to begin in late March.  

The Town will provide security awareness training solutions to ensure that our municipal staff are aware of the potential end-user cyber threats that may exist. The program will also help the Town understand related gaps in our cybersecurity posture that should be addressed.  

Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman remarked, “Cybersecurity is a growing threat to communities across the Commonwealth, and we are very glad to partner with the State’s Office of Technology Services and Security to improve staff awareness and the overall cybersecurity of Amherst.”  

Amherst IT Director Sean Hannon added, “This grant is essential to continue our important work to make our employees aware of the persistent threat of cybersecurity attacks. An encouraging outcome of running this training previously was the increased awareness among staff when receiving suspicious emails. We hope to gain more ground in this area through this next round of the program.”  

By participating in the 2021 Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program, a community agrees to implement policies and/or programs to improve their overall security posture by addressing training and assessment needs for all full-time employees that could introduce potential risk to municipal government.