No federal cyber grant applications for Florida, South Dakota

Only Florida and South Dakota were the states that did not seek federal cybersecurity grants for states and local governments under the $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending law, which will be handed out by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future. "We would have loved to see all 56 states and territories apply for their allocation. Unfortunately, two opted not to apply for that allocation in year one on principle. We will certainly invite them to apply again in year two because we believe that across the country, there are needs that need to be addressed and this is a viable program to ensure that our local communities and our states have resources to address those needs," said CISA Deputy Assistant Director of Stakeholder Engagement Trent Frazier. Florida, which has established a $30 million program to bolster local cybersecurity, noted that it skipped the application process due to the program's "invasive and bureaucratic requirements." Similar concerns about the yearly application process were cited by South Dakota as reasons behind its decision to decline federal cybersecurity support.