The creation of the Cyber Range and Security Operations Center (SOC) was funded through a $2 million federal grant secured by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), intended to enable students to apply, hone, and elevate their cybersecurity skills, and serve as a resource for the Commonwealth to provide training to municipalities, state agencies, law enforcement, and other entities. On February 24, 2023, Senator Markey visited the Bridgewater campus to speak with faculty and students of the cybersecurity program and tour the site of the planned Cyber Range.
This project is partially funded by the Congressionally Directed Spending allocation administered by the U.S. Department of Education’s FIPSE Program award #P116Z220025, and the Commonwealth of MA FY22 Skills Capital Grant administered by the Executive Office of Education, award #BD-21-1036-EDU02-EDU02-57156.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has also supplied $1,532,749 in direct support via the MassCyberCenter at MassTech and the state’s SOC/Range Initiative, including a grant announced at the Massachusetts Municipal Cybersecurity Summit in October 2023. The MassCyberCenter’s programs, which aim to help build a diverse generation of cybersecurity professionals through education, training, and workforce development, have also provided $3.3 million toward the establishment and operations of CyberTrust Massachusetts to support the training and staffing of a network of cyber training centers statewide. Additional funding was provided by a $250,000 Massachusetts Skills Capital Grant.
CyberTrust Massachusetts is proud to support our consortium member institutions who have made a commitment to increasing cyber resiliency throughout the Commonwealth. How does this Massachusetts cyber ecosystem work? Bridgewater State University (BSU), Massachusetts Bay Community College (MBCC), Salem State University (SSU), and Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) each host and provide cyber range programs for their local community partners to leverage. Individually, they are responsible for the development and delivery of their own array of training programs based on the needs of their community. The technology on which those programs are delivered is provided via a partnership with Immersive Labs, managed by CyberTrust Massachusetts. Additionally, BSU and STCC have also invested in physical infrastructure to house a CyberTrust Massachusetts Security Operations Center (SOC), providing quality, affordable 24/7 monitoring and response and cyber advisory services. Whether you are a municipality, non-profit, small/medium sized business, or anything in between, CyberTrust Massachusetts and our four delivery partner institutions are here to strengthen your cybersecurity posture.
