Upholding U.S. SLTT Resilience with Affordable Services

Are you responsible for supporting the resilience of a public sector organization or entity with limited resources? Are you frustrated by these limitations you're up against?

The Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center^® (MS-ISAC^®) is a unique connection of U.S. State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) governments and their departments and agencies. It's aligned in collaboration and the sharing of information regarding U.S. SLTTs' security maturity objectives, activities, and nuanced needs.

As your ISAC for the U.S. SLTT community, our focus is on you and your security. The MS-ISAC leverages the strength generated through coordinated and well-integrated peer-to-peer trust, sharing, and collaboration around security best practices to deliver security products, capabilities, and a security community that was built by and exists for U.S. SLTTs along with their departments and agencies. Members receive actionable and relevant threat intelligence, 24x7x365 monitoring through the CIS Security Operations Center (SOC), and affordable tools and services that inform their security programs and strengthen their operational resilience.

In this blog post, we’ll focus on that last point. We’ll specifically explain how the MS-ISAC serves as a U.S. SLTT strategic partner, bridging gaps in security capability and capacity and offering many organizations access to affordable services and vital protections that they wouldn’t have access to otherwise.

Why Affordability Matters to U.S. SLTT Government Organizations

U.S. SLTTs along with their departments and agencies are the frontline of defense against cyber and cyber-enabled threats. Many lack access to necessary resources to defend against an increasingly sophisticated threat environment attracted by the data that these organizations maintain. Approximately three-quarters (73%) of government organizations participating in the 2024 Nationwide Cybersecurity Review (NCSR) named “lack of sufficient funding” as a challenge, making it a top security concern. By comparison, 65% mentioned “increasing sophistication of threats,” 49% named “emerging technologies,” 48% brought up “lack of documented processes,” and 33% highlighted “inadequate availability of cybersecurity professionals.”

As shown in the image below, lack of sufficient funding has remained the top security concern for U.S. SLTTs since the 2021 NCSR. It received the highest level of concern among U.S. SLTTs for the 2024 reporting period.

^{U.S. SLTTs' Top 5 Security Concerns (Source: 2024 Nationwide Cybersecurity Review, page 35)}

These government entities face concerns about the quality, affordability, and ease of management of security services. The MS-ISAC was built on and maintains its operations around the concept that securing government data, networks, and systems isn't a solo fight. The MS-ISAC equips U.S. SLTT governments along with their departments and agencies with a comprehensive defense ecosystem in a highly collaborative and trusted peer environment focused on implementing and sustaining effective security best practices.

Supporting Local U.S. SLTT Resilience and Security

With the federal government stepping back from funding the MS-ISAC, U.S. SLTT government organizations now have MS-ISAC Single Organization Membership as an affordable way to stay protected. Designed for public sector entities with limited budgets, this membership offers low or even no-cost membership to organizations based on their annual operating budgets.

Single Organization Membership in the MS-ISAC supports local organizations in the following ways:

• Delivers cost-effective security sensors, protection tools, and management support tailored to local needs
• Offers customized training, exercises, and risk management assistance for small, resource-limited teams
• Helps develop incident responses plans and security assessments, improving preparedness
• Provides non-technical executive resources to build awareness and support for resilience

Advancing a Whole-of-State Approach to Security

Multiple states have invested in MS-ISACState/Territory-Wide membership, which covers every eligible U.S. SLTT organization in their state or territory. These entities recognize the MS-ISAC as the trusted, proven solution for U.S. SLTT resilience and community defense against cyber and cyber-enabled threats.

Here's how MS-ISAC membership helps them:

• Enables states and territories to extend affordable security capabilities and 24x7x365 coverage across agencies and local jurisdictions, lowering cyber risk and downtime of public sector services
• Assists in developing governance frameworks, technology plans, and maturity assessments
• Supports training and education programs aligned with state cyber strategies and maturity levels
• Provides tools and services that scale across diverse U.S. SLTT environments, maximizing ROI

Overall, states that are investing in MS-ISAC State/Territory-Wide membership now protect communities representing nearly four out of every ten people in the United States (38% of the U.S. population) — showing how collaboration strengthens local security nationwide. Our eligible member population covered by these paid memberships is now close to 28,000 U.S. SLTT organizations — far surpassing our historical peak of just over 19,000 member organizations under the previous no-cost membership.

Other states and territories are actively working toward membership, signaling strong confidence in the MS-ISAC’s value.

The Affordability of MS-ISAC Membership

Tier 1 pricing for MS-ISAC Single Organization Membership tops out at just $1,495 annually for organizations with annual operating budgets under $25 million. (For those with budgets of more than $1 billion annually, membership costs just $29,995 per year.) Those eligible for Tier 1 membership include K-12 schools, small towns and villages, public libraries, county health departments, and other local government organizations that provide essential services to communities nationwide. If they cannot afford the annual membership fee, Tier 1 organizations (those with annual operating budgets under $25 million) can submit a hardship request during the sign-up process to receive a full 12-month MS-ISAC membership at no cost for the first year.

It's a similar story with MS-ISAC State/Territory-Wide Membership, where pricing is based on state or territory population. With a population of less than one million, a state or territory can extend security protections to every U.S. SLTT organization in its jurisdiction for $175,000 annually. By comparison, for a state or territory with between 15 million and 25 million people, it costs $850,000 per year to take a whole-of-state approach to U.S. SLTT resilience, which breaks down between $400 and $900 per covered public sector entity in that state or territory.

What Affordable Services Look Like for MS-ISAC Members

Under both Single Organization Membership and MS-ISAC State/Territory-Wide Membership, organizations receive access to national-scale multidimensional threat intelligence, 24x7x365 CIS SOC monitoring, and incident response — all tailored to U.S. SLTT needs. U.S. SLTTs might have access to a SOC already, but not all of them provide 24x7x635 coverage. They can thus still use the CIS SOC as an extension of their current service, covering after hours and saving resources in the event of an incident. 

Additionally, U.S. SLTTs can further bolster their cyber defenses with cost-effective add-on solutions. These CIS Services^® include Albert Network Monitoring and Management, CIS Managed Detection and Response™ (CIS MDR™), and Malicious Domain Blocking and Reporting Plus (MDBR+).

Albert Network Monitoring and Management

Albert Network Monitoring and Management is a Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) that provides U.S. SLTT governments with a cost-effective, tailored solution for detecting malicious activity on their networks. Uniquely focused on signature-based detection, NetFlow analysis, and 24x7x365 monitoring by the CIS SOC, Albert is fully managed, all-inclusive service with predictable monthly pricing based on sensor bandwidth size and deployment type. Its monthly rates begin at $1,130 with hardware and $930 without hardware.

CIS Managed Detection and Response™ (CIS MDR™)

CIS Managed Detection and Response™ (CIS MDR™) helps U.S. SLTT organizations strengthen their devices' cyber defenses with enterprise-grade endpoint protection, integration into leading endpoint detection and response (EDR) technology, as well as full-time monitoring and incident support from the 24x7x365 CIS SOC. CIS MDR is priced between $45 (Commercial Cloud) and $60 (GovCloud) per endpoint annually with no minimum number of endpoints to purchase.

Malicious Domain Blocking and Reporting Plus (MDBR+)

Developed in partnership with Akamai, Malicious Domain Blocking and Reporting Plus (MDBR+) is a cloud-based protective DNS (PDNS) solution specifically designed for U.S. SLTT governments. It enhances the foundational MDBR service available to MS-ISAC members with enterprise-grade capabilities such as real-time dashboards, a centralized cloud-based management portal, customizable acceptable use policies (AUPs), and remote off-network protection. Together, these added features deliver improved visibility, control, and protection.

MDBR+ offers a tiered pricing structure that supports organizations of all sizes. For organizations with at most 150 users, MBDR+ is a flat $200 per month. From there, each additional user up to a total of 1,999 users costs $0.75 per month. From there, each additional user up to 4,000 users costs $0.60 per user per month, whereas each user beyond that figure costs $0.50 per month.

Embrace Affordable Cybersecurity by Joining the MS-ISAC

The MS-ISAC is strong and here to stay. After pivoting to a member-funded model, we’ve seen remarkable adoption across the country. It’s now up to all of us to keep the proven community defense model found in the MS-ISAC alive and thriving. By defending together, we protect communities nationwide.

Ready to see the difference of joining this community?