For those that missed the announcement, we're sharing the bittersweet news that Captain Stephanie Helm departed the MassCyberCenter at MassTech at the end of January for personal reasons.

Captain Helm had a major impact on the cybersecurity sector in Massachusetts as the first-ever director of the Center and hers are huge shoes to fill. In the interim, Ben Linville-Engler, MassTech’s Chief Investment Strategist and Program Executive, will serve as Acting Director and our programs will continue under the guidance of our talented team.

Visit our website to read the full statement from MassTech Executive Director Carolyn Kirk, which includes a roundup of Captain Helm's accomplishments over her 4-plus years leading the MassCyberCenter.

Applications for the Spring 2023 cycle of the MassCyberCenter’s Mentorship Program will close next Wednesday, February 15th!

Talented cybersecurity professionals are needed to mentor the many Massachusetts students that have already applied to participate this spring. 

This highly competitive program matches diverse cybersecurity undergraduate students with an industry mentor. The goal of this program is to expand the diversity of the cybersecurity talent pool across Massachusetts.

If accepted into the program, you will participate in the following activities:

• Direct Mentorship: Students and their mentor engage in a one-on-one, ongoing dialogue about careers in cybersecurity. Mentors are expected to meet with their mentee for at least one hour every two weeks.

• Cybersecurity Project: Students work on a cybersecurity project under the guidance of their mentor. Projects will be presented at a showcase event in May at the conclusion of the Program. Details about the project are contained in the application.

• Events: Mentors will also have the opportunity to attend virtual career events and the 2023 Massachusetts Cybersecurity Forum.  

The program runs from March through May 2023. Most activities will take place virtually.

This is a great way to support high-achieving students in the cybersecurity field! To apply visit: masscybercenter.org/mentorship.

Mentor Application

Apply by: February 15th, 2023

In January, the MassCyberCenter participated in the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s 2023 Annual Meeting and led a workshop titled, “Strengthening Your Municipal Cybersecurity Program and Incident Response Planning”. This workshop focused on the importance of municipal cyber incident response planning (Cybersecurity Minimum Baseline Goal 3) and tools/resources municipal leaders can use to achieve this goal.

Cyber incident response planning promotes the creation of an effective strategy for handling cybersecurity incidents that minimizes incident impacts, strengthens municipal defenses against future incidents, and helps municipalities understand their cybersecurity environment by identifying risks and gaps; and creating effective protection and response strategies.

Workshop panelists included:

• Stephanie Helm, former Director, MassCyberCenter (Moderator);
• Detective Lieutenant Brian Gavioli, Commonwealth Fusion Center;
• Taylor Reynolds, Technology Policy Director, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and
• Gregory Bautista, Partner, Mullen Coughlin LLC.

For more information on how municipalities can build a ‘Minimum Baseline for Cybersecurity,’ including an incident response plan, go to Minimum Baseline of Cybersecurity for Municipalities.

The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently released a report on the state of cybersecurity within the nation’s K-12 schools that gives insights into the current threat landscape and the K-12 community’s capacity to prevent and mitigate attacks. 

The report also provides recommendations and resources to help K-12 schools and school districts effectively reduce their risk in the evolving, disrupting, and damaging cybersecurity threat landscape and offers simple steps school leaders can take to strengthen their cybersecurity efforts. 

An accompanying toolkit is available for the K-12 community to better understand their cyber risks and learn how to take basic steps to reduce that risk.

The Municipal Cybersecurity Awareness Grant Program (MCAGP), offered through the Office of Municipal and School Technology, is available to government agencies in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, including cities/towns, schools, libraries, water districts, public safety organizations, and planning commissions. The Program includes end-user training modules and threat simulations that help government organizations improve their overall cybersecurity posture.

Applications for the Abbreviated 2 Training Track, which will run September-December, will be accepted until July 15, 2023. 

The Northeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NECCDC) is a collegiate cybersecurity competition that tests each team’s ability to operate, secure, manage, and maintain a corporate network. This competition creates as closely as possible, a realistic corporate administration and security experience – giving the competitors a chance to compare their education and training against their peers and the real world challenges that await them. The theme for 2023 is “Resilient Cloud Infrastructures.” 



The Regional Competition is being held Friday, March 10 – Sunday, March 12, 2023 at UMass Lowell. Visit the NECCDC website for more information on how companies can participate in and support this event.

Cybersecurity jobs encompass many different types of skill sets across all sectors of business and critical infrastructure. The MassCyberCenter Jobs Board features opportunities that can advanced your career path. Where do you want to go?

Check out several of our latest postings:

• Director of Cyber Range Programs – CyberTrust Massachusetts View Job

• Senior Systems Engineer – Boston Medical Center View Job

• Systems Engineer – Remote Share Systems Engineer - Akamai Technologies View Job