Baker-Polito Administration Announces Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program Awards

 Baker-Polito Administration Announces Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program Awards

44,000 employees from 107 local government organizations including municipalities and public school districts will receive cybersecurity awareness training to better detect and avoid cyber threats 

BOSTON – Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced the second round of award recipients for the Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program. Over 44,000 municipal and public school employees from 107 local government organizations across the Commonwealth will receive critical training to better detect and avoid cyber threats.

Identified by the National Governors Association (NGA) as “the single most effective factor in preventing security breaches and data losses,” this critical cybersecurity awareness training will provide online end-user training and cyber threat simulations to further educate municipal and public school employees participating in the program. The grant program is managed by the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS) and is funded with $250,000 of capital IT authorizations from Governor Baker’s General Governmental Bond Bill, which the Legislature passed into law in 2020 to invest in Commonwealth cybersecurity and IT infrastructure modernization initiatives.

“Cyber threats continue to evolve, making cyber awareness training an essential tool for municipalities and public schools in the Commonwealth to equip their employees with the knowledge on how to avoid the potentially costly missteps of falling prey to cyber attacks,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “We will continue to seek out opportunities to improve the cybersecurity posture of the Commonwealth and its communities.”

“Participation in these cyber awareness grants is a great way for municipalities to best protect their IT and data assets from cyber threats without having to divert resources away from other important government services,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “We are pleased to collaborate with our partners in local government to best protect the communities we serve.”

Building off of the first-ever Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program announced at the end of 2019, this new grant round will provide updated training for both municipalities and school districts who participated in the previous round as well as those new to the program. The online training materials provided to municipal and public school employees includes a variety of cybersecurity attack simulations that reflect malicious luring techniques commonly used by cyber criminals to gain access to IT systems and data:

• Email phishing attacks

• ‘Smishing’ SMS attacks

• USB drop attacks

• Link-based, attachment-based, and data-entry attacks

“In addition to providing training to the Commonwealth’s state workforce, we are thrilled to extend this vital training to our partners in local government,” said Secretary of Technology Services and Security Curt Wood. “Building a culture of cyber awareness, local governments can grow their security teams to be the responsibility of all employees.”

Map and List of Award Recipients:

Community	Organization(s)	School District (if applicable)	Employees to Receive Cyber Training
Acushnet	Town and School	Acushnet Public Schools	175
Amesbury	Town and School	Amesbury Public School	700
Amherst	Town only		350
Andover	Town and School	Andover Public Schools	1000
Ashland	Town and School	Ashland Public School	750
Attleboro	Town only		250
Auburn	Town only		135
Barnstable	Town only		155
Bellingham	Town only		50
Berlin	Town only		80
Blandford	Town only		1
Bourne	School only	Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School	120
Braintree	Town and School	Town of Braintree	1200
Burlington	Town and School	Burlington Public Schools	500
Byfield	School only	Triton Regional School District	60
Charlton	Town only		213
Chatham	Town only		140
Chelmsford	School only	Chelmsford Public Schools	941
Chelmsford	Town only		200
Cohasset	Town and School	Cohasset	550
Concord	Town only		410
Danvers	Town and School	Danvers Public Schools	400
Dartmouth	Town only		200
Dartmouth	School Only	Dartmouth Public Schools	15
Dedham	Town and School	Dedham Schools	1000
Dennis	Town only		175
Dighton	Town only		73
Dighton	School only	Bristol County Agricultural High School	81
Douglas	Town and School	Douglas Public Schools	280
Dover	Town only		25
Dracut	Town only		190
Dudley	Town only		30
Duxbury	Town and School	Duxbury Public Schools	770
East Bridgewater	Town and School	East Bridgewater Public Schools	140
Easthampton	Town Only		70
Edgartown	Town only		100
Falmouth	Town and School	Falmouth Public Schools	997
Foxborough	Town and School	Foxborough Public Schools	700
Gloucester	Town only		400
Greenfield	Town and School	Greenfield Public Schools	180
Halifax	Town only		300
Hanover	School only	South Shore Regional Vocational Technical School District	150
Hanover	School only	Hanover Public Schools	560
Hanson	Town only		115
Holbrook	Town only		110
Holden	Town only		180
Lakeville	Town and School	Freetown-Lakeville RSD	60
Lancaster	Town only		97
Lawrence	Town only		600
Littleton	Town only		130
Longmeadow	Town and School	Longmeadow Public Schools	1120
Lowell	Town and School	Lowell Public Schools	4000
Ludlow	Town only		150
Manchester-by-the-Sea	Town only		100
Marblehead	Town and School	Marblehead Public Schools	130
Maynard	Town and School	Maynard Public Schools	200
Medfield	Town and School	Medfield Public Schools	500
Medway	Town only		150
Melrose	Town and School	Melrose Public Schools	600
Methuen	Town only		275
Middleborough	Town only		100
Middleton	Town only		45
Milford	Town only		250
Milton	Town only		200
Nantucket	Town and School	Nantucket Public Schools	500
Natick	School only	Natick Public Schools	1000
Needham	Town only		300
New Bedford	Town and School	New Bedford Public School	3500
Newbury	Town only		50
Newton	Town only		830
Norfolk	Town and School	Norfolk Public Schools	117
North Adams	Town only		90
North Andover	Town only		250
North Attleborough	Town and School	North Attleborough School	800
North Reading	Town and School	North Reading Public Schools	350
Northampton	Town and School	Northampton Public Schools	800
Norton	Town and School	Norton Public Schools	400
Norwell	Town only		100
Orleans	Town only		130
Peabody	Town only		160
Pittsfield	Town only		475
Plymouth	Town only		225
Provincetown	Town and School	Provincetown Schools	250
Reading	Town and School	Reading Public School	1300
Rochester	School only	Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School	110
Rockland	Town only		100
Sandwich	Town and School	Sandwich Public Schools	180
Scituate	Town only		200
Scituate	School only	Scituate Public Schools	500
Somerset	Town only		50
Southbridge	Town only		120
Southwick	Town only		132
Southwick	School only	Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District	275
Sutton	Town and School	Sutton Public Schools	280
Tewksbury	Town and School	Tewksbury Public Schools	800
Truro	Town only		20
Tyngsborough	School only	Greater Lowell Technical High School	350
Wales	Town only		75
Ware	Town only		55
Wareham	Town and School	Wareham Public Schools	550
Wellesley	School only	Wellesley Public Schools	100
West Springfield	Town and School	West Springfield Public Schools	1140
Westfield	Town and School	Westfield Public Schools	1700
Westhampton	Town only		8
Wilmington	Town and School	Wilmington Public Schools	235
Worcester	Town only		1600
Wrentham	Town only		17

 

For more information on the Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program, visit the grant homepage.

昆士市一天發生2起華裔耆英遇搶案

      

昆士市今年1月薪聘9名警察，
其中包括3名女警，Christine Le
為唯一亞裔。(昆市警局網站)

          (Boston Orange 編譯) 昆士市在今(2021)年1月才剛增添9名新警員，2月18日(週四)在北昆士市的Montclaire社區，就一天之內發生2宗亞裔耆英遇搶，受傷事件。

             昆士市愛國者報(Patriot Ledger)在2月23日報導，昆市警察正在調查都發生在Montclaire區West Squantum街的2宗徒手搶劫案。受害者都是亞裔。

             第1宗搶劫案發生在West Squantum街95號門外。大約凌晨4點45分時，69歲的亞裔耆英向北昆市地鐵站走去時，一名男子攻擊他，搶走他的午餐袋，讓他嚴重受傷，迄今還躺在醫院裏。

             第2宗搶劫案是當天晚上9點55分左右，發生在West Squamtum街和Daivison街交界處附近。一名55歲婦女，也是走向北昆市地鐵站時，被人把她掛在肩上的包包搶走了。

             有2人目擊了這宗搶案，其中一人用視頻拍到搶劫者的面貌。他們還追到搶劫者，把包包及裏面的東西還給了受害者。這第2位受害者沒有受傷。

             警察表示，不清楚兩宗搶案是否彼此相關，但2宗案件都發生在同一天，而且發生地點距離很近，根據受害人的形容，搶劫者是一名白人男子。

             昆士市警察籲請任何人有資訊的話，通知警探William Monteith，617-745-5767，或發電子郵件，wmonteith@quincyma.gov。人們也可使用昆士市警察的#MyPD應用程式發送貼士。

            昆士市北昆士地鐵站以前也發生過搶劫案，在2019年時，至少發生過4宗。

麻州州長匯報疫情 2/24

 

麻州政府撥款470萬促進11個疫情重災區的疫苗平等

麻州州長查理貝克巡視在納提克購物廣場的
新設大型疫苗注射站。(視頻截圖)

(Boston Orange編譯) 麻州今(24)日宣佈，將斥資470萬元，致力協助州內受新冠病毒打擊最嚴重20個社區，減少他們獲取疫苗的障礙。

麻州州長查理貝克(Charlie Baker)今日到Natick購物商場視察新的大型疫苗注射站時，就麻州的預約疫苗注射程序做了更詳細說明，並表示週四(25日)起，麻州6個大型疫苗注射站將有50000個新的注射疫苗機會可供預約。

這6個大型疫苗注射站分別在福克斯伯勒(Foxborough)，波士頓，春田市( Springfield)，達特茅斯(Dartmouth)，丹佛(Danvers)，以及納提克(Natick)。

Lab Corp公司的Bill Haas表示，目前每天為100人
施打疫苗。(視頻截圖)

麻州上週公佈的這”平等計畫”將重心放在有色社區，以及坐困家中的耆英，殘障人士，以及其他難以觸及的人口。

查理貝克表示，麻州政府將和群島策略集團(Archipelago Strategies Group)，以及全民健保(Health Care for All)這兩個組織合作，用這筆錢來減少注射疫苗的障礙，增加人們對於新冠病毒疫苗有效性及安全的認知。麻州健康及人民服務長Marylou Sudders表示，該計畫將從本週開始實施，至少進行到6月30日。

這20個社區是麻州公共衛生廳使用聯邦疾病防治中心的辦法，依據平均每日感染率最高，有色居民人口最多的準則挑選出來，包括波士頓，布洛克頓(Brockton)，雀喜市(Chelsea)，艾瑞特市(Everett)，秋河市(Fall River)，費奇堡(Fitchburg)，傅萊明罕市(Framingham)，哈福希爾(Haverhill)，好利奧克(Holyoke)，羅倫斯(Lawrence)，李奧名斯特(Leominster)，羅爾市(Lowell)，林市(Lynn)，摩頓市(Malden)，馬修市(Methuen)，新貝福(New Bedford)，龍都市(Randolph)，瑞維爾(Revere)，春田市(Springfield)，以及屋斯特(Worcester)。

查理貝克表示，這計畫的經費基礎，來自麻州社區健康中心聯盟的投資100萬元，打擊有色社區對疫苗的猶豫。

            查理貝克也說明，麻州已增派人手管理預約注射疫苗的網站，以容許該網站承受更高流量，但還是希望州民在辦理預約登記時能有點耐心。麻州政府還將實施”數位等候室”做法，以防止網站崩塌。更新了的網站也將為想要預約注射疫苗的人編排成隊，把他們帶到一個展示有關於他們何時可開始辦理手續等更多資訊的網頁。

             目前麻州的疫苗注射進行到第二階段，65歲以上居民，以及患有兩種以上病症的人，都有資格登記預約。

             麻州政府也宣佈了11個區域合作機構，將設立疫苗注射站，從3月1日起為符合資格的麻州居民服務，以確保麻州居民可以到一個對他們更方便的地方注射疫苗。

             查理貝克表示，在聯邦眾議院委員會週二舉行的公聽會中，製藥公司說以生產疫苗所面對的挑戰已解決，未來數週將大幅度增加疫苗遞送率。華盛頓郵報也報導拜登政府告訴州長們，每週運送給各州的疫苗數量將增加到100萬劑。都是令人欣慰的消息。

             他還說，就在同一天，聯邦藥品局(FDA)認為強生強生的疫苗安全、有效，然後輝瑞及Moderna這兩家公司表示三月將加倍生產疫苗，都是大好消息。

             在納提克購物商場負責大型疫苗注射站這Lab Corp公司的Bill Haas表示，目前該公司每天為100人注射疫苗，下星期可增加到每天500人，估計4月時可增加到每天施打5000劑疫苗。

Baker-Polito Administration Announces $4.7 Million for Vaccine Equity in Hardest-Hit Communities; Regional Vaccination Collaboratives 

BOSTON – The Baker-Polito Administration today announced a new $4.7 million initiative to promote COVID-19 vaccine equity in the 20 communities most disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The Administration also announced 11 high-efficiency regional vaccination collaboratives involving local health officials and other regional partners.

Vaccination Appointments: Tomorrow, around 50,000 new appointments will be added at mass vaccination locations across the Commonwealth. This includes the mass vaccination locations at Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium, Springfield, Danvers, Dartmouth and Natick. Retail pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens will also administer over 20,000 doses next week as well.

Residents can go to www.mass.gov/COVIDvaccine tomorrow morning to find and schedule their appointments. Appointment availability is very limited due to the constrained supply of vaccine doses that the Commonwealth is receiving from the federal government.

$4.7 Million for Vaccine Equity: The Administration today announced a $4.7 million effort to support its vaccine equity initiative announced last week, which focuses on reducing barriers to vaccination in the 20 hardest-hit communities in the Commonwealth. The Administration will work with Archipelago Strategies Group (ASG) and Health Care for All (HCFA) to best leverage these funds.

The initiative will support and coordinate with local leaders and community- and faith-based organizations to strengthen existing efforts in these cities and towns. These efforts will specifically focus on communities of color, homebound seniors, disabled individuals and other hard-to-reach populations. ASG and HCFA will provide hyperlocal, population-specific communication resources as well as hiring local residents and working with local organizations with cultural and linguistic competencies to reach disparately impacted populations in each priority municipality. ASG specializes in grassroots mobilization, partnering with local leaders, community organizations, and media partners to develop community-based solutions. As a subcontractor, HCFA will provide high-touch support for priority communities, including direct service support, community organizing, education, and outreach.

This work will complement the Commonwealth’s $2.5 million public awareness campaign, “Trust the Facts, Get the Vax,” adapting the campaign’s messaging for specific communities. The initiative will focus on the 20 municipalities with the greatest COVID-19 case burden, taking into account social determinants of health and the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on people of color. These communities are Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, Everett, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Leominster, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Methuen, New Bedford, Randolph, Revere, Springfield and Worcester. This work will be coordinated with targeted opportunities for increased vaccine access through existing and new locations, including pop up sites and mobile clinics. 

Regional Collaboratives: In addition, the Administration today also designated 11 new regional collaboratives that will support efforts to streamline vaccination efforts. These collaboratives will leverage local health officials, regional hospitals and others to deliver high-throughput, efficient vaccination sites for all eligible residents across the Commonwealth beginning March 1. Collaboratives must meet several criteria:

 

• Have capacity to vaccinate a minimum of 750 individuals per day, 5 days per week (subject to vaccine availability);

 

• Meet an administration rate threshold of 85% and report doses within 24 hours;

• Be open to all residents of the Commonwealth (collaborations may focus outreach efforts towards those who live or work in the area, but must be open to all Massachusetts residents) 

• Provide public links for vaccine appointments on www.mass.gov/COVIDVaccine.

New and existing collaboratives announced today:

• Barnstable County

• Berkshire County Boards of Health Association

• Franklin County Regional Collaborative

• Harrington Hospital, in Collaboration with LBOH

• Heywood Hospital, in Collaboration with LBOH

• Lawrence General Hospital, in Collaboration with LBOH

• Marshfield-Plymouth

• Northampton & Amherst

• Randolph – Collaboration between Avon, Holbrook, and Randolph

• Rutland

• Worcester, Worcester State University, Commonwealth Medicine and St. Vincent Hospital

Information about booking appointments through these collaboratives will be available on www.mass.gov/COVIDvaccine in the coming days.

Regional collaborative leaders on their programs:

Marshfield-Plymouth: “The Marshfield Fairgrounds drive-through site is a place for residents on the South Shore to get vaccinated while in their cars without the worry of parking, walking, or waiting in line. Special thanks to Governor Baker, Lt. Governor Polito and their administration for supporting this site to service so many people in South Eastern Mass. The more people we can get vaccinated the closer we get to ‘herd immunity.’ This pandemic does not recognize town borders, and neither can we.” – Michael Maresco, Marshfield Town Administrator

Lawrence General Hospital, in collaboration with local health departments: “Our Lawrence General Hospital vaccination team is currently vaccinating over 1,000 people a day including some of the most vulnerable in our community. The communities we serve have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and Lawrence General Hospital remains committed and eager to continue working closely with city leaders and state health officials as we ramp up vaccination efforts here in the Merrimack Valley.” – Deborah J. Wilson, President and CEO of Lawrence General Hospital

Berkshire County Boards of Health Association: “We recognized early-on that working together would be the most effective way to vaccinate our community here in the Berkshires. Our local health care organizations and public health departments had been partnering since the beginning of the pandemic, and collaborative vaccination clinics were the natural next step. We are grateful to the Commonwealth for helping us to formally create the Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative, and we look forward to continuing our work to vaccinate our entire community.” – Laura Kittross, Director of the Berkshire County Boards of Health Association, and Darlene Rodowicz, Executive Vice President of Berkshire Health Systems

Randolph: "Since February 5th, Randolph has been operating as a regional Covid-19 vaccination site in collaboration with our neighboring communities of Avon and Holbrook. As our efforts ramp up to vaccinate Massachusetts residents through the different phases of eligibility, we are grateful for this opportunity and partnership with the COVID Command Center. This step towards vaccine distribution equity is important and Randolph is proud to partner with the state to ensure a smooth and efficient process.”  – Gerard F. Cody, REHS/RS, Randolph Public Health Director

Rutland: “The Town of Rutland is pleased to operate a regional COVID vaccination site. Rutland is the geographic center of the Commonwealth. We anticipate operating at 750 vaccine doses daily / 5 days a week. We are happy to fulfill this need in Central MA.” – Richard C Stevens, Rutland Health Agent

Heywood Hospital, in collaboration with local health departments: “In partnership with the City of Gardner, Heywood Healthcare opened its Covid-19 Vaccine Clinic on January 28, 2021. Located at the Polish American Citizens Club in Gardner, the clinic is staffed primarily by community volunteers consisting of retired physicians and RNs, in addition to Mount Wachusett Community College nursing students. It's an honor to provide this service to our community, and we look forward to expanding that service to more individuals eligible for vaccine. We are grateful for our partnership with the state as we work through this pandemic and look forward to coming out on the other side. During its first month of service, operations at the clinic quickly ramped up from 200 doses administered during one session per week to nearly 2,500 doses now being administered during three sessions per week.” – Rozanna Penney, Vice President of Perioperative Services and Clinic Director at Heywood Hospital

Harrington Hospital, in collaboration with local health departments: “Harrington began providing vaccine to its employees in mid-December and quickly moved to vaccinate first responders. We then began working with the State to receive more vaccine to become a Statewide site and partnered with the local and regional communities. We worked closely with Southbridge to utilize their community center and gained support from local police and fire/EMS. This is an ongoing critical partnership! We went from vaccinating about 150 per day and now are doing more than 500 per day. The Commonwealth has supported our program as essential to provide vaccine to all those that are eligible.” – Ed Moore, President and CEO of Harrington Hospital

Northampton & Amherst: “I’m proud that Northampton has been chosen to fulfill this critical role for the people of Western Massachusetts. We take our responsibility very seriously as we work to get everyone vaccinated and get all our lives back to normal. I’m proud to have strong partners in the Town of Amherst and the State Department of Public Health to accomplish our mission as fast as possible.” – Merridith O’Leary, Northampton Public Health Director