Photo By Col. Wayde Minami | Sgt. James Mitchell, a cyber forensics expert with the Maryland Army National...... read more read more
Twenty Maryland National Guard Soldiers and Airmen joined more than 800 other participants at Camp Williams, Utah, for Exercise Cyber Shield 17, the Army National Guard’s premier cyber defense training event, April 23 to May 5, 2017.
The exercise, which included members of the National Guard from 44 states and territories, the U.S. Army Reserve, state and federal government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and private industry, was designed to assess participants’ ability to respond to cyber incidents.
By working closely with interagency partners and the private sector, the National Guard seeks to strengthen network cybersecurity and the capability to support local responses to cyber incidents. Cyber Shield 17 was part of the National Guard’s ongoing effort to improve Guard ability to respond to real-world cyber incidents. This was the sixth iteration of this training exercise.
Maryland participants came from the state’s Joint Force Headquarters, the Maryland Army National Guard’s 110th Information Operations Battalion and the Maryland Air National Guard’s 175th Wing, as well as the Maryland Department of Information Technology. In addition to those receiving training, Maryland Guardsmen supported Cyber Shield as instructors and exercise staff.
The exercise was divided into two phases: the first week offered participants the opportunity to hone their skills through academic instruction covering everything from the legal aspects of cyber operations to the nature of cyber threats to hands-on technical training. Equally important, the Soldiers and Airmen increased their awareness of their roles as part of the larger cyberspace defense community.
During the second phase of Cyber Shield, exercise participants from cyber protection teams faced off against trained adversaries. The teams tried to defend their networks and mitigate the effects of attacks in a free-wheeling clash of cyberspace acumen.
Capt. Dennis delRosario, a member of the Maryland National Guard Joint Force Headquarters’ Defensive Cyber Operations Element, was particularly impressed by the skill level of the opponents he faced.
“They have a lot of sharp guys,” delRosario said. “Some of them have decades of experience, and it shows.”
The National Guard’s dual state-federal character makes it uniquely positioned to help civilian agencies and critical nongovernmental entities, such as public utilities, if an incident occurs. Because of their status as a state military force when not under federal mobilization orders, Guard units are available to respond to state-level emergencies at their governor’s discretion.
“As a governor would call up the National Guard…for a state disaster, such as a hurricane, it’s no different for a cyber event,” Lt. Col. Henry Capello, the exercise commander, explained.
Tracy Monteith, a representative of mission partner Black and Veatch Corp. who worked with Maryland’s Cyber Shield team, stressed the importance of this type of exercise.
“I think it’s incredibly important. They train for a scenario we hope never happens,” Monteith said, adding that he was impressed with the realism of Cyber Shield. “I think the exercise is well designed. It was very well put together and it’s quite impressive—the scenario, the magnitude, and the realism that’s been put into this.”
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 05.02.2017 11:22 |
| Story ID: | 232262 |
| Location: | UTAH, US |
| Web Views: | 296 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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