By Army 1st Lt. Aaron Smith, Ohio National Guard
CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. -- The Cyber Shield 2018 cybersecurity
exercise is part of the National Guard’s ongoing effort to be a versatile
capability for governors of all 54 states and territories.
This is the seventh iteration of the training exercise. By
working closely with interagency partners and the private sector, the National
Guard seeks to strengthen network cybersecurity and leverage new and emerging
technologies for homeland defense.
Two Phases
The exercise centers around two phases. The first week
offers participants the opportunity to learn from leaders in military, government
and the private sector on vital cybersecurity skills.
The second week challenges the National Guard soldiers and
airmen as they face off against trained adversaries. The teams utilize their
unique talents to defend networks and mitigate the effects of attacks against
vulnerable infrastructure.
“This exercise provides a very technical defensive cyber
ecosystem with a defensive cyber operations element training focus,” said Ohio
Army National Guard Lt. Col. Teri Williams, the exercise commander. “Cyber
Shield truly is a crucible where industry cyber talent merges with our military
forces and the result is a more polished, tuned, and stronger response
capability.”
Cyber Shield is also unique in the fact that it is planned
and executed by a volunteer staff of National Guard and reserve soldiers and
airmen over the course of 11 months.
Improving Cybersecurity
“The exercise is planned by a staff that is truly passionate
about improving the cyber defense of our nation,” Williams said. “In working
with this group, I’ve witnessed, firsthand, many talented, dedicated volunteers
who are passionate in their quest to improve homeland defense through
cybersecurity.”
The National Guard is uniquely suited for cyber operations
if an incident occurs. Because of their status as a state military force when
not under federal mobilization orders, Guard units are uniquely positioned to
respond quickly in situations where federal response may not have appropriate
authority.
Moreover, many of these participants, being part time
citizen-soldiers and airmen, work in the cyber field in the private sector,
which provides an amount of experience to this exercise.
“Individual technicians must take their technical skills to
collective and collaborative levels in order to be successful,” Williams said.
“We are committed to providing our participants with challenging and realistic
training in order to protect our homeland.”
The cyber experience gained throughout the careers of these
soldiers and airmen will be put to the test over the course of this demanding
and complex exercise.
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