Congressional hearing highlights role of local governments in election cybersecurity ahead of 2018 elections
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House Oversight and Government Reform Committee targets state and local measures to protect voting systems
On Nov. 29, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform conducted a hearing on the current state of cybersecurity and the nation’s voting machines. The session focused on identifying actions that Congress, the Administration, and state and local governments can take to ensure voting systems are secure ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
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The cybersecurity of the nation’s elections infrastructure has become an increasingly pressing issue for state and local officials. In September 2017, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) notified 21 states of Russian government hackers’ attempts to interfere with state election systems during the 2016 election. Shortly thereafter, the agency announced the creation of an election security task force to enhance coordination between federal, state and local election officials.
During the hearing, Christopher Krebs, who serves as the under secretary for the national protection and programs directorate at DHS, testified and highlighted the importance of coordinating efforts between federal, state and local election officials in combatting malicious cybersecurity threats and ensuring the integrity of election systems. Krebs also highlighted DHS’s partnership with the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), which DHS has charged with working closely with state, local, territory and tribal governments on mitigating and responding to cybersecurity threats, and their ability to perform comprehensive reviews of locally owned systems to identify cyber vulnerabilities.
NACo is committed to working with lawmakers to ensure that counties have access to resources to mitigate cybersecurity threats ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. We will continue to engage DHS, and the MS-ISAC to raise awareness of current resources provided by the federal government to help bolster our cybersecurity.
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DHS Announces new Funding for the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program
On September 23, the Department of Homeland Security announced a new funding round for the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP). The SLGCP provides $1 billion over four years to state, local, and tribal governments to implement cybersecurity plans and build resilience against emerging threats as a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
This year’s allocation is $279.9 million, notably less than the fiscal year 23 (FY23) allocation of $375 million. Applications for funds must be submitted by December 2, 2024. Eligible entities for this program are state governments, and the program structure design allows for local governments to receive 80% of the funding via either pass-through funding or in-kind services. Counties should be advised that eligible entities may request counties to contribute to the non-federal cost-share element of a state’s application, which for this grant year is 30% for a single-entity applicant or 20% for a multi-entity applicant.
Slight changes have come to the SLCGP for FY2024, including broadening the criteria for applications. In FY22 and FY23, state and local governments were limited to specific objectives of the program, where now applications can focus on any of these four objectives:
Develop and establish appropriate governance structures, including developing, implementing, or revising cybersecurity plans, to improve capabilities to respond to cybersecurity incidents and ensure continuity of operations
Understand their current cybersecurity posture and areas for improvement based on continuous testing, evaluation, and structured assessments
Implement security protections commensurate with risk
Ensure organization personnel are appropriately trained in cybersecurity, commensurate with responsibility
The SLCGP requires that 25 percent of state allocations must benefit rural areas. Local and state governments have 48 months to complete projects and expend allocated funds. The BIL provided funding for four years, with FY 25 being the last year of the program.
NACo encourages counties to coordinate with statewide cyber planning committees to prepare a proposal for the program. NACo will continue to monitor the program and update counties with any developments.
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