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Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey joins the Office of Information Technology at the state's Security Operations Center in Mobile, Ala., on Oct. 1, 2018. (Governor's Office/Hal Yeager)
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McCrary Institute helps protect Alabama government services from attacks

State and local governments are increasingly under attack from cyber criminals and nation-states. Criminals know these entities can be an easy target and, because they’re under-resourced and understaffed, state and local governments are particularly susceptible to AI-powered cyberattacks. 

If you’re hit with a cyberattack, it’s painful. It can mean: 

  • Loss of vital data 
  • Public services are shut down 
  • Unwanted public attention  
  • And, importantly, loss of trust with the citizens you’re serving 

Most immediately, it means that your systems are shut down. If you get hit by a cyberattack, it’s the only thing you’re going to deal with for weeks – if not longer.  

  • Average time a single ransomware attack can shut down government systems = one month! 27.8 days 
  • A recent estimate shows that government entities have lost over $2.2 billion to these attacks in downtime alone. (Source: Comparitech 2018-2024 study) 

But there are ways to avoid the attack.  

The State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program 

In 2021, Congress authorized and funded the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to set up the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program. This was a part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. 

It’s federal funding allocated to the state of Alabama that funds services from Auburn University’s McCrary Institute to protect and defend your digital systems. 

In total, approximately $19 million is available to state and local government entities in Alabama over four years. It’s available on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage eligible entities to sign up today.  

Eligible entities include counties, municipalities, cities, towns, local public authorities, school districts, Indian tribes or authorized tribal organizations, emergency management agencies, emergency services, publicly owned water/wastewater, publicly owned transit systems, and other agencies or instrumentalities of local government. 

Thanks to the federal grant money, and the McCrary Institute’s partnership with the State of Alabama Office of Information Technology, we can offer services we call McCrary Secure.  

McCrary Secure

McCrary Secure offers eligible local governments no-cost cyber support including:  

  • A cybersecurity needs assessments to get started 
  • Vulnerability support 
  • Cybersecurity training  
  • 24/7 monitoring powered by the Alabama Cybersecurity Intelligence Center 
  • Multifactor authentication implementation 

It’s delivered by Auburn University’s McCrary Institute and the Alabama Office of Information Technology.

It’s already trusted by more than 100 Alabama communities. 

How it works

Start by talking to us at the McCrary Institute. We can help you understand if you’re eligible and get you started applying for the already available grant money. 

Visit SLCGP.alabma.gov to apply. 

Not sure which services you’ll need? The cybersecurity needs assessment is a good first step. It helps identify what support would be most useful for your organization. 

For more information

Reach out to our team at the Alabama Cybersecurity Intelligence Center at [email protected].

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