The State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program (SLCGP) is a federal grant program administered by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA ). The overall goal of the SLCGP is to improve the cybersecurity posture of state, local, and territorial (SLT) government organizations by providing assistance for managing and reducing systemic cyber risk through the following four objectives:

Objective 1: Develop and establish appropriate governance structures, as well as develop, implement, or revise cybersecurity plans, to improve capabilities to respond to cybersecurity incidents and ensure continuity of operations.

Objective 2: SLT agencies understand their current cybersecurity posture and areas for improvement based on continuous testing, evaluation, and structured assessments.

Objective 3: Implement security protections commensurate with risk.

Objective 4: Ensure organization personnel are appropriately trained in cybersecurity, commensurate with responsibility.

SLCGP FFY24 Projects

Four projects have been approved by the SLCGP Planning Committee, DHS, and FEMA, and funds from the SLCGP will be used to implement them. To ensure that as many New Jersey entities can benefit from the limited SLCGP funds as possible, the software, hardware, and services procured with the grant funds will be passed through to state and local government entities by the NJCCIC. The following projects have been approved for Federal Fiscal Year 2024 (FFY24):

Cybersecurity Governance and Planning

• This project aims to help state and local government organizations develop and establish governance structures, including developing and implementing cybersecurity plans, and documented policies and standards that promote the implementation of security controls, address  capabilities to respond to cybersecurity incidents, and ensure continuity of operations.

Cybersecurity Risk Management

• This project will allow state and local government organizations to identify, assess, and prioritize risk remediation efforts while also driving areas for improvements to their overall cybersecurity posture. The risk assessment results from this project will also help inform the SLCGP Planning Committee regarding necessary investments of SLCGP funds in subsequent years.

Enhancing Cybersecurity Resilience

• Three cybersecurity resilience enhancement initiatives will be funded and supported: Advanced Endpoint Protection, Multi-Factor Authentication Hardware Tokens, and Cloud-Based Web Application Firewall. These initiatives address endpoint, application, and access control threats.

Workforce Development

• This project provides IT and cybersecurity personnel with training resources and opportunities to develop knowledge, skills, and abilities to address evolving cyber challenges, and includes remote online training, a virtual cyber range, and security awareness training.

Please visit the NJCCIC SLCGP webpage for additional details on the four approved projects for FFY24 and for instructions on how to apply.

NJ state and local government organizations that wish to participate in the FFY24 SLCGP are required to complete and submit an Application for Cybersecurity Resources no later than December 20, 2024 at 11:59:59PM EST.

In addition to the Application for Cybersecurity Resources, NJ local government organizations that wish to participate in the FFY24 SLCGP are required to complete and submit a Local Consent Agreement no later than December 20, 2024 at 11:59:59PM EST.

Please do not hesitate to contact the NJCCIC at njccic@cyber.nj.gov with any questions.  Also, for more background on our recent cybersecurity efforts, please visit cyber.nj.gov.