Illinois Soldiers and Airmen Participate in Cyber Exercise

CAMP ATTERBURY, INDIANA (03/25/2015)(readMedia)-- Illinois National Guard Soldiers and Airmen participated in the 2015 Cyber Shield Exercise from March 9-20 in Edinburgh, Indiana. The exercise is part of the National Guard's initiative to improve its readiness and ability to respond to cyber threats.

The 15-person team from Illinois was one of 24 teams from 42 states and territories to participate in the exercise. During the first week of the exercise, personnel from the SysAdmin, Audit, Network, and Security (SANS) Institute directed the participants in hands-on training in a "cyber city", a 6-foot by 8-foot scale model of a city with working electrical, water, transit, hospital, retail, and residential infrastructure. This entire infrastructure is computer controlled by a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, typical in large cities.

The SANS Institute is one of the world's largest proponents of information security training and certification, providing one of the largest collections of research documents and comprehensive immersive training. The SANS Institute describes its Cyber City training as its most in-depth offering.

Sgt. Russel Kleug of North City, Illinois, Illinois Joint Force Headquarters Joint Operations Center (JOC) Common Operations Picture Manager, joined the team to add domestic operations experience. He said he was impressed by the training and grateful for his selection to the team.

"Overall, it was very impressive. The training that was provided was tailored for every level," said Klueg. "The instructors were knowledgeable at all levels, instructing those with limited knowledge as well as giving more seasoned personnel more in-depth instruction."

At the end of the first week, the SANS Institute supervised a competition in the cyber city, pitting each of the 42 teams against cyber attacks they defended while answering questions to demonstrate their expertise. The Illinois team took third place, with the top spot going to a joint team from the Oregon National Guard and Idaho National Guard.

The second week of the exercise was a simulated attack exercise. Teams were set up in a virtual cyber environment and responded to up to six events simultaneously.

This is the third year for the Cyber Shield Exercise, but the first time the Illinois team was mostly traditional Soldiers and Airmen, and not full-time staff, said Maj. Mark Leuken of Springfield, Illinois, Illinois Joint Force Headquarters Network Operations Manager.

"Our goal is to build a pool of candidates for our cyber defense team that we can develop around their civilian lives. Most of the people that are chosen, work in the information technology sector and have long, busy weeks," said Lueken. "We want to be able to use the best and brightest, but we also need to be able to balance their duties with their civilian workloads."

Lueken said that the only team member in a full-time status was Klueg.

"For the first time, we actually sent a JOC representative to the exercise," Lueken said. "It ended up working to the team's advantage, and at the end of the exercise, everyone felt that it would be beneficial to bring a JOC representative to future exercises."

Kleug said he hopes to bring the knowledge he gained back to the JOC so that personnel can be better trained and equipped in case of a cyber attack in the civilian sector that requires a response from the Illinois National Guard.