The Montcalm County Board of Commissioners on Monday authorized acceptance of an $8,960 cybersecurity grant to convert county online addresses and email from a .us domain to a .gov domain.

Vice Chairman Peterson introduced the item, saying the county’s IT contractor applied for several cybersecurity grants on the county’s behalf; only the application to secure the .gov domain was approved. The board discussed the $8,960 award, the cost/benefit of the change and the broader cybersecurity posture, including multifactor authentication (MFA). Commissioners were told the county had the .gov domain reserved and the conversion was framed as a security improvement. A board member said insurance carriers increasingly require stronger safeguards such as MFA.

The board unanimously moved and supported approval of the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program award and allowed for appropriate signatures. County staff and commissioners noted other larger cybersecurity grant applications were rejected by the funder; those included a server project and a broader multifactor rollout.

The board recorded no roll-call tally for the motion; the item passed by voice vote.