From the lone hacker to nation-state operatives, government agencies from the Federal level down to local municipalities are under constant threat of a cyberattack. In recent years, the Federal government has responded by sharing guidance and information, but that only takes budget-strapped state and local government entities so far.

To help state and local governments overcome their resource challenges and secure systems against attacks, Congress allocated $1 billion in funding from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program, which is administered by the Department of Homeland Security.

MeriTalk recently sat down with Norman St. Laurent, cybersecurity specialist at Cisco, to discuss how state and local technology leaders can tap into this grant funding for their cybersecurity initiatives.