Peters Applauds Announcement to Fund New State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, applauded a joint announcement by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on a Notice of Funding Opportunity for a new grant program that will help local governments better protect their networks from cyber intrusions. Peters, working with U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH), was instrumental in the creation of the program, and secured $1 billion over four years to fund the program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

 “State and local governments in Michigan and across the country often lack the necessary resources to defend against cyber-attacks, which can cost taxpayers millions of dollars and compromise sensitive personal data. That is why I worked alongside Senators Hassan and Portman to create this critical grant program, and secure $1 billion for it through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” said Senator Peters. “Today’s announcement means that local communities will be able to obtain increased federal resources that will help them identify cybersecurity threats and mitigate the effects of online attacks. As Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, I’ll continue leading efforts to strengthen our nation’s cybersecurity defenses and hold criminal hackers accountable for targeting our networks.”

 State and local governments increasingly find themselves targeted by high-profile cyber-attacks. Michigan’s Chief Security Officer has estimated that criminal hackers try to break into the state’s networks more than 90 million times a day – though they are usually stopped. In 2019, the Board of Commissioners from Genesee County in Michigan reported similar attacks on their network, after hackers locked their system and demanded payment for its release. This new grant program will help state, local, Tribal and territorial governments modernize systems to protect sensitive data, information, and public critical infrastructure.

 As Chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Peters has led efforts to ensure our nation is better prepared to defend against cyber-attacks. His historic, bipartisan provision to require critical infrastructure owners and operators to report to the CISA if they experience a substantial cyber-attack or if they make a ransomware payment was signed into law. Peters’ bipartisan bill to enhance cybersecurity assistance to K-12 educational institutions across the country was also signed into law. Peters’ bipartisan bills to bolster cybersecurity for state and local governments, strengthen the federal cybersecurity workforce, and help secure federal information technology supply chains have been signed into law.

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