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Dover council accepts five state cybersecurity grants to strengthen city network
Summary
Council accepted staff recommendation to accept five state cybersecurity grants that will fund monitoring, incident planning, multifactor authentication upgrades, penetration testing and network segmentation at no local match.
The City of Dover City Council on a 7-0 vote accepted staff’s recommendation to accept five state cybersecurity grants that staff said will fully fund upgrades to the city’s network and security posture.
Council took the action after a briefing from Kate Zass, the city’s public affairs and emergency management coordinator, who told council the awards are “100% funds. No match required.” Zass said the grants fill gaps identified during recent cyber-related events and work already under way in the city’s information technology shop.
Zass described five separate grants: a network monitoring layer to detect issues on network switches; grant 0976 to update the city’s cybersecurity incident plan; grant 10977 to upgrade multifactor authentication (MFA); grant 0978 to pay for a penetration test; and grant 0995 to fund network configuration changes and expanded network segmentation. She said the items are intended to “start[] leading us down the path of filling in some of the voids that we had.”
Councilman Neal moved to accept staff’s recommendation; Councilman Bogarty seconded. The clerk recorded a roll-call vote of seven in favor, zero opposed. Mayor and council thanked Zass and city IT staff for securing the awards and for stepping into the state planning committee that helped make the funds available.
The council action authorizes staff to accept the grants and proceed with the work described in the committee action form; subsequent procurement and implementation steps will follow established city processes.
Votes at a glance: moved by Councilman Neal, seconded by Councilman Bogarty; vote recorded as Bogarty — yes; Neal — yes; Dr. Pillsbury — yes; Mrs. Arndt — yes; Rocha — yes; Lewis — yes; Council President Anderson — yes; outcome: approved 7-0.
The grants are intended to pay for monitoring/alerting, an updated incident response plan, broader MFA, external penetration testing and additional network segmentation. Staff said the next opportunity to apply for additional cybersecurity funding was imminent and that being on the state planning committee improves the city’s ability to pursue further awards and technical assistance.
