National: New state, local cyber grant rules prohibit spending on Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center | Colin Wood/StateScoop
The Department of Homeland Security on Friday published the notice of funding opportunity for the fourth and final year of the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. Among the details explaining the latest round of funding for the $1 billion program is a stipulation that grantees may not spend their funds on services provided by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a group that for more than 20 years has shared critical cybersecurity intelligence across state lines and provided software and other resources at free or heavily discounted rates. The notice outlines numerous other items states and their local government are not permitted to spend cyber grant funding on, a list with obvious inclusions like “recreational and social purposes,” along with perhaps less obvious prohibitions, like covering ransoms in ransomware attacks, paying cybersecurity insurance premiums or paying for land or other construction costs associated with building new facilities. Read Article