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County secures federal cybersecurity grants, proposes $60k for fiber/segmentation upgrades
Summary
Kent County technical services reported cybersecurity grant wins that covered major network hardening items and requested roughly $60,000 for physical fiber segmentation work and equipment to strengthen cyber defenses.
Kent County’s technical services director summarized recent cybersecurity grant awards and proposed county-funded infrastructure work to reduce cyber risk.
“Approximately $60,000…this is our fiber — what we build, what we own,” IT staff member Scott said, explaining funds would pay labor and materials to physically separate critical networks and improve the county’s security posture. He described the goal as enhancing cybersecurity by physically and virtually segmenting networks to limit cross-access.
Scott said the county applied to multiple FEMA and MEMA cybersecurity grant rounds. Kent County received an initial small round of roughly $25,000 and later secured larger awards totaling $136,000 in one round; combined, the county brought in about $161,000 in external funding to support cybersecurity projects. Scott reported the larger award is currently frozen but expected to be released and said the county plans to apply for additional rounds.
Staff framed the $60,000 request as work on existing county-owned fiber to create physical separation, not new construction, and said the investment aims to reduce the risk of a multimillion-dollar cyber incident by strengthening virtual segmentation and infrastructure hardening.
No formal vote occurred; the item was presented for inclusion in the FY26 capital or operating budgeting process, with staff noting other capital lines for battery replacements and set‑aside amounts used in multi‑year planning.
