Finance Committee gets the answer on how much it would take to fully fund Technology (add $1.5M/year) (audio)

FM #1608 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1608 in the series. 

This session shares the Finance Committee meeting conducted Wednesday, December 12, 2025. All 9 members of the Committee participated, 8 in Council Chambers, with 1 remote; hence a roll call for required votes.

Quick recap:

• Technology Director Tim Rapoza was the key presenter and outlined the technology requirements for licenses, hardware, and software which enable the Town and Schools to deliver the services they do

• Key question: How much it would take to fully fund Technology for the hardware, software, licenses and personnel to support Town and School needs. Answer = add $1.5M/year to the existing budget

The recording runs just about 2 and ½ hours, let’s listen

Audio link ->  https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1608-franklin-ma-finance-cmte-mtg-12-10-25/

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Franklin TV video link ->  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeAQEXjI0D8 

Agenda doc -> https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_12102025-2039  

Finance Cmte gets the answer on how
much it would take to fully fund
Technology (add $1.5M/year)

The presentation doc https://franklintechnology2025.my.canva.site/ 

Pictures of the slides presented are captured in one album ->   https://photos.app.goo.gl/ThWM9bemHaA48xk69 

My notes can be found in one PDF ->    https://drive.google.com/file/d/10VfXGVVfuS1pge0RwuA3VxKgYAoZKuCx/view?usp=drive_link 

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The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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Great summary of the Solar Winds attack, not just on the US

Noted security expert Bruce Schneier writes: 

"Recent news articles have all been talking about the massive Russian cyberattack against the United States, but that’s wrong on two accounts. It wasn’t a cyberattack in international relations terms, it was espionage. And the victim wasn’t just the US, it was the entire world. But it was massive, and it is dangerous. 

Espionage is internationally allowed in peacetime. The problem is that both espionage and cyberattacks require the same computer and network intrusions, and the difference is only a few keystrokes. And since this Russian operation isn’t at all targeted, the entire world is at risk — and not just from Russia. Many countries carry out these sorts of operations, none more extensively than the US. The solution is to prioritize security and defense over espionage and attack. 

Here’s what we know: Orion is a network management product from a company named SolarWinds, with over 300,000 customers worldwide. Sometime before March, hackers working for the Russian SVR — previously known as the KGB — hacked into SolarWinds and slipped a backdoor into an Orion software update. (We don’t know how, but last year the company’s update server was protected by the password “solarwinds123” — something that speaks to a lack of security culture.) Users who downloaded and installed that corrupted update between March and June unwittingly gave SVR hackers access to their networks. 

This is called a supply-chain attack, because it targets a supplier to an organization rather than an organization itself — and can affect all of a supplier’s customers. It’s an increasingly common way to attack networks. Other examples of this sort of attack include fake apps in the Google Play store, and hacked replacement screens for your smartphone."

Continue reading the article online

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2020/12/russias-solarwinds-attack.html

screengrab of https://www.schneier.com/