Specifically, Vermont has purchased membership in the MS-ISAC’s State and Territory-Wide Membership. As a result, the MS-ISAC’s long-standing cyber support services will now be made available to all of Vermont’s state agencies, municipalities, tribal governments, K-12 public schools, public health organizations and public utilities.
“Strong cybersecurity posture should not depend on an organization’s size,” said Vermont CIO Denise Reilly-Hughes in a statement. “This program ensures equitable access to cyber protections for public-sector organizations.”
Eligible public-sector organizations in Vermont must now sign up for their own memberships — which will not requires fees — through the state’s Agency of Digital Services by visiting https://ready.vermont.gov/.
Members will receive access to cybersecurity threat intelligence and distribution, cyber incident response and forensic services, collaboration with other members, access to a security operations center, and more.
Experts have said that this sort of free cyber support is vital at the lower levels of American governance, where many agencies lack dedicated cybersecurity resources. In some instances, there are municipalities and other organizations that lack full-time IT staff.
Vermont is the 13th state to sign up for the new fee-based statewide program that launched in October, an MS-ISAC spokesperson has confirmed. Previously, the MS-ISAC offered free membership to all states and cities, doing so through funding from the Department of Homeland Security. Totaling more than 19,000 participating members at its peak, the MS-ISAC’s federal funding ended in September, with some officials connecting it to a larger shift in which states are expected to fund and control cybersecurity on their own with less support from the federal government.
The growing list of statewide program members now includes Alaska, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey and Texas, among others.
