Cybersecurity grants available for tribal nations

FEMA, DHS offering cybersecurity grants for tribal nations

$18.2 Million in grants available

Updated: 10:38 AM CDT Oct 3, 2023

TRIBAL NATIONS. THAT IS THE GOAL BEHI GRANTS OFFERED BY FEMA IN THE CYBERSECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY. JOINING US THIS MORNING TO TELL US ALL ABOUT IT AND HOW THEY WILL HELP IS FEMA’S NATIONAL TRIBAL ADVOCATE, KELBY KENNEDY. GOOD MORNING. THANKS FOR BEING HERE. HALLET THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME. HAPPY TO HAVE YOU HERE. SO LET’S TALK ABOUT THESE GRANTS. THERE ARE $18.2 MILLION AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS PROGRAM. EXPLAIN WHAT THE GOAL IS. SO THE GOAL OF THE TRIBAL CYBERSECURITY GRANT PROGRAM IS TO REALLY HELP BUILD THE CYBER SECURITY RESILIENCE OF TRIBAL NATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. LOOK, TRIBAL NATIONS ARE FACING ALL KINDS OF THREATS AND THE CYBERSECURITY SPACE, AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE THE PLANS AND THE TOOLS THEY NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY CAN KEEP THEIR GOVERNMENTS, THEIR TRIBAL CITIZENS AND THEIR NEIGHBORS SAFE. WHEN CYBERSECURITY ATTACKS HAPPEN. CAN YOU GIVE US SOME INSIGHT INTO SOME OF THE CHALLENGES FACED BY TRIBAL NATIONS WHENEVER IT COMES TO CYBER SECURITY? ABSOLUTELY. MANY TRIBAL NATIONS ARE REALLY STARTING, YOU KNOW, AT THE AT THE BASE LEVEL WHEN IT COMES TO CYBERSECURITY. THEY HAVE MUCH VERY MUCH LARGE QUANTITIES OF DATA. WHEN YOU THINK OF TRIBAL NATIONS HAVING THEIR OWN HEALTH CARE PROGRAMS, PUBLIC SAFETY SYSTEMS, YOU KNOW, THEIR OWN ECONOMIC ENTERPRISES, THERE’S TONS OF DATA OUT THERE, BUT MANY TRIBAL NATIONS MAY NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITIES TO BUILD THEIR CYBERSECURITY DEFENSES. AND SO THE POINT OF HAVING THIS GRANT PROGRAM IS TO REALLY HELP STRENGTHEN TRIBAL NATIONS WHEREVER THEY ARE. IF THEY’RE JUST STARTING OUT BUILDING A CYBERSECURITY DEPARTMENT OR PROGRAM, OR IF THEY’VE ALREADY GOT A PLAN ALONG THE WAY, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY’RE ABLE TO FIGHT AGAINST RANSOMWARE ATTACKS. WE KNOW THAT THERE HAVE BEEN ATTACKS THAT HAVE BEEN HAPPENING ACROSS INDIAN COUNTRY, AND WE JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS GRANT PROGRAM CAN BE UTILIZED EFFECTIVELY BY TRIBES TO MEET THOSE CHALLENGES IN THE WAY THAT THEY DEEM BEST. SO HOW DOES THE APPLICATION PROCESS WORK? WHO QUALIFIES TO APPLY FOR THESE? SO FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES ARE ELIGIBLE TO DIRECTLY RECEIVE THIS GRANT. ALSO, TRIBAL CONSORTIUMS OR A GROUP OF FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES CAN DECIDE TO APPLY FOR THE GRANT TOGETHER. BEING ABLE TO ACTUALLY APPLY FOR THIS GRANT IS A FAIRLY EASY PROCESS AND WE HAVE A TON OF INFORMATION THAT WE’VE RELEASED ACTUALLY ON WEDNESDAY WHEN WE RELEASED THE GRANT PROGRAM. WE ALSO LAUNCHED A FEMA TRIBAL CYBERSECURITY GRANT PROGRAM WEBSITE. SO IF YOU JUST GO INTO GOOGLE AND TYPE IN FEMA, TRIBAL CYBERSECURITY, YOU’RE GOING TO FIND THIS WEBSITE THAT HAS THE GRANT APPLICATION AND THE NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY. IT’S GOING TO HAVE LINKS TO WEBINARS THAT WE PUT UP, FACT SHEETS, FLOW SHEETS, EXAMPLES FOR TRIBAL NATIONS TO BE ABLE TO HELP THEM GO THROUGH THIS APPLICATION PROCESS EFFICIENTLY. LEE TELL US AGAIN THE FUNDS, ONCE THOSE ARE GRANTED, IS THERE A SPECIFIC AMOUNT THAT EACH EACH TRIBE WHO APPLIES FOR IT? HOW DO YOU DECIDE HOW MUCH FUNDING THEY GET? SO WE WERE ABLE TO TAKE THIS TRIBAL CYBERSECURITY GRANT PROGRAM WITH THE LANGUAGE THAT CONGRESS GAVE US. THEY GAVE US THE ABILITY TO AMEND THE GRANT PROGRAM TO REALLY MEET TRIBAL NATIONS NEEDS. AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE AMENDED WAS, WAS THE KIND OF THE TIER LEVEL THAT TRIBAL NATIONS COULD ACCESS THE GRANTS. SO WE DON’T HAVE A CAP. SO PLEASE DON’T THINK THAT THERE, YOU KNOW, YOUR TRIBE CAN ONLY GET X AMOUNT OF DOLLARS. WE DON’T WORK LIKE THAT. BUT WHAT WE DO HAVE IS A SYSTEM SET UP WHERE SIMILARLY SIMILARLY SIZED TRIBES CAN COMPETE AGAINST SIMILARLY SIZED TRIBES. SO YOU DON’T HAVE A REALLY BIG TRIBE COMPETNG. IT’S A VERY SMALL TRIBE. WE HAVE KIND OF A LAYOUT. IF YOU GO LOOK IN THE NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES, THERE’S PARTICULAR LAYOUTS OF HOW MUCH FUNDING IS AVAILABLE FOR CERTAIN TRIBAL NATIONS THAT HAVE YOU KNOW, CERTAIN NUMBER OF TRIBAL CITIZENS. AND THAT WAY WE’RE ABLE TO SPREAD THE MONEY OUT EFFECTIVELY ACROSS ALL LEVELS OF TRIBAL NATIONS. OKAY, THAT IS GOOD TO KNOW. AND THEN YOU SAID ONCE THOSE FUNDS ARE AWARDED, YOU SAID THEY CAN BE USED. YOU SAID EXTRA STAFF PROGRAMS, SOFTWARE GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN FOR US. ABSOLUTELY. SO SO THE FIRST AND FOREMOST THING THAT WE WANT TO MAKE SURE TRIBAL NATIONS HAVE IS A PLAN. AND SOME TRIBAL NATIONS ALREADY HAVE A PLAN. THEY KNOW HOW THEY WANT TO BUILD THEIR CYBERSECURITY STAFF, WHO’S ON THAT TEAM. BUT SOME TRIBAL NATIONS DON’T HAVE THAT PLAN. SO KIND OF THE FIRST GOAL TO EVEN APPLY IS WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT TRIBAL NATIONS ARE ALREADY THINKING THROUGH WHAT IS THAT PLAN LOOK LIKE. WE HAVE A TEMPLATE IN THE APPLICATION FOR THE GRANT PROGRAM THAT TRIBAL NATIONS CAN UTILIZE, OR THEY CAN UTILIZE A PLAN THAT THEY’VE ALREADY SET UP. BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST, WE WANT TO GET YOU A PLAN. WE WANT TO GET YOU THE ASSISTANCE FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO HELP SHAPE EITHER SHAPE THAT PLAN. AND REALLY MAKE IT TAILORED TO WHAT YOU NEED AFTER YOU HAVE A PLAN SET OUT. WE’RE GOING TO LOOK THROUGH, YOU KNOW, HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT THAT PLAN AND HOW CAN WE UTILIZE THIS GRANT FUNDING TO HELP ENSURE THAT THAT PLAN IS EFFECTIVE? SO ARE THERE STAFFING NEEDS? ARE THERE PIECES OF SOFTWARE FOR ARE THERE THINGS THAT WE’RE NOT EVEN THINKING OF THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY MAKE MAKE A LOT MORE SENSE FOR YOUR TRIBAL NATION TODAY? OKAY. KELBY AND BEFORE WE GO, REAL QUICK, WHAT IS THE DEADLINE AND WHERE CAN THEY FIND THE THE APPLICATION AGAIN? SO THE DEADLINE IS JANUARY 10TH. BUT I WOULD ENCOURAGE TRIBAL NATIONS TO GET YOUR GRANT APPLICATION IN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, JUST IN CASE THERE’S ANYTHING THAT WE NEED TO FOLLOW UP WITH YOU ON. SO GET THAT GRANT APPLICATION IN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. AGAIN, GO TO GOOGLE AND TYPE IN TRIBAL CYBERSECURITY GRANT PROGRAM. YOU’RE GOING TO FIND A WHOLE WEB PAGE THAT WE’VE LAID OUT JUST FOR YOU THAT HAS A LOT OF HELPFUL RESOURCES TO HELP YOUR FOLKS THAT ARE APPLYING FOR THE GRANT BE ABLE TO BE SUCCESSFUL. THE LAST THING I’LL MENTION REALLY QUICKLY IS, YOU KNOW, AS PART OF OUR FEMA NATIONAL TRIBAL STRATEGY, WE WERE ABLE TO ENGAGE IN A LOT OF TRIBAL CONSULTATION ON THIS PLAN, TAKING A LOT OF INPUT AND SO THINGS THAT WE HAVE FOR THIS GRANT PROGRAM ARE THINGS LIKE HAVING 0% NONFEDERAL COST SHARE. SO THERE’S NO NONFEDERAL COST SHARE FOR THIS GRANT PROGRAM. WE’VE TAILORED THE APPLICATION IN A WAY THAT REALLY MAKES SENSE FOR TRIBES, AND THAT WASN’T BECAUSE FEMA OR SSA THOUGHT THAT UP. IT’S ALL BECAUSE TRIBAL NATIONS CAME AND TOLD US WHAT WE NEEDED TO DO TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS GRANT PROGRAM WAS EFFECTIVE FOR TRIBES. OKAY, REALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION. KELBY KENNEDY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOU COMING ON A

FEMA, DHS offering cybersecurity grants for tribal nations

$18.2 Million in grants available

Updated: 10:38 AM CDT Oct 3, 2023

FEMA is offering grants to tribal nations to help them prevent cyberattacks.Click the video player above to watch the full interview.

FEMA is offering grants to tribal nations to help them prevent cyberattacks.

Click the video player above to watch the full interview.