Local government managers and leaders know that education and training are key elements in their cybersecurity awareness toolkit. But training can be neglected or deferred for any number of reasons, including financial constraints.

Here’s a resource that’s likely to be within reach. Managers, public safety staff, and community leaders can access online and instructor-led cybersecurity training and technical assistance from members of the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC).

The consortium is a partnership of five universities, each of which offers these services to states and communities. As partners, its members share resources and coordinate efforts to strengthen the nation’s cyber infrastructure. NCPC members and their offerings include

• The Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS) at the University of Texas at San Antonio

• The Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) in the Texas A & M University System, which offers online and classroom training at all levels
• The University of Memphis, which offers resources through its Center for Information Assurance
• The Criminal Justice Institute (CJI), a division of the University of Arkansas System that manages a Cyberterrorism Defense Initiative
• Norwich University, which offers continuing education certificates in Information Security and Assurance.

NCPC members individually have received funding from the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Their approach is organized around the Community Cyber Security Maturity Model (CCSMM) that emphasizes cybersecurity as the responsibility of the "whole community." The whole community includes the public and private sectors as well as any individual within the community who accesses the internet or a computer network.

See more about the topic of Cybersecurity on the ICMA website.