Minimum Baseline of Cybersecurity for Municipalities

Goal 4: Secure Technology Environment and Best Practices

 

Goal 4Benefits - Reduce threat of cybersecurity incidents and minimize incident impacts

How - Begin to secure your technology environment and improve your municipal resiliency with practical first steps through implementation of security best practices, such as an annual vulnerability assessment, firewall implementation/ maintenance, regular backups, system updates, and inventory control. 

Download the Informational PDF     Goal 4 PDF

 

Watch the Learning Module Below to Learn More

 

 

Resources

Item/Document Description Link Access
MassCyberCenter – General Best Practices  Links to general best practices guides and government agencies for the latest alerts, prevention tips, and ways to ensure your organization stays cyber resilient https://masscybercenter.org/cyber-resilient-massachusetts/resources-support-cyber-resiliency All
MassCyberCenter – Minimum Baseline of IT A set of foundational recommendations for municipalities to standardize on information technology (IT) policies and practices in order to create an effective cybersecurity program. PDF Download All
MassCyberCenter –Critical Infrastructure Toolkit Guidance, frameworks, tools, and best practices for critical infrastructure cybersecurity around Operational Technology (OT) and Industrial Control Systems (ICS)—especially for smaller organizations with limited resources https://masscybercenter.org/critical-infrastructure-toolkit Free to all
Office of Municipal and School Technology at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Technology Services & Security – Health Check Program Free services for local government to access basic cybersecurity by discovering, assessing and identifying cybersecurity gaps that could impact IT systems that support essential business functions https://massgov.formstack.com/forms/
cyber_security_it_health_check		 Free to all municipalities
Operational Services Division at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Financial - ITS78: Statewide Contract for Data, Cybersecurity, and Related Audit, Compliance, and Incident Responses Services State-wide contract for vendor services, including a full range of audit, penetration tests, reviews, and validation of compliance with legal, regulatory, and policy requirements, and related services in areas such as data breach investigation, remediation, and security of confidential information https://www.mass.gov/doc/its78/download All
Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Cyber Essentials A guide for leaders of small businesses, as well as leaders of small and local government agencies, to develop an actionable understanding of where to start implementing organizational cybersecurity practices https://www.cisa.gov/publication/cisa-cyber-essentials All
Center for Internet Security (CIS) Controls A series of 18 foundational and advanced cybersecurity controls to quickly establish the protections providing the highest payoff in an organizations https://www.cisecurity.org/controls/cis-controls-list/ All