Last fall, President Joe Biden signed into law one of the largest infrastructure packages in history, allocating more than $1 trillion to improve the nation’s bridges, help climate resilience, bring broadband Internet to rural areas, and upgrade the water and energy systems. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also includes almost $2 billion for cybersecurity, half of which goes to a grant program for state, local, and tribal governments.
The cybersecurity funding comes at a time when pipelines, power grids, water systems, and local governments have various adversaries, ranging from ransomware gangs to sophisticated state actors. The money is meant to help them transition from weak security practices and implement advanced security models, such as zero trust.
In particular, the government funds can help small organizations with limited resources — especially those based in rural areas, says Mike Hamilton, CISO at Critical Insight and former CISO for the city of Seattle….
