EMI Targeted Cyber Attacks
TEEX Instructor Antonio Watson delivers “Understanding Targeted Cyber Attacks” at the FEMA Cybersecurity Symposium.

MITSBURG, MD – The Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) is providing cybersecurity training this week for the renowned Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Emergency Management Institute (EMI) in Emmitsburg, MD, as part of the first FEMA Cybersecurity Symposium.

The symposium focuses on the challenges of responding to a cybersecurity incident before, during and after an event, and examines the latest technologies and services for cyber incident response.

TEEX’s National Emergency Response and Recovery Training Center (NERRTC) is delivering 28 hours of training through three courses: Essentials of Community Cybersecurity, Understanding Targeted Cyber Attacks and Recovering from Cybersecurity Incidents. Participants will also hear from speakers representing leading cybersecurity organizations.

“TEEX, as a member of the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC),was the first call FEMA made to line up training for the symposium, which shows we are top of mind when it comes to cybersecurity training,” said NERRTC Program Director Rebecca Tate. “This is an important opportunity to demonstrate and confirm our expertise and ability in the vital cybersecurity realm.”

Approximately 40 state, local, tribal or territorial participants from across the 10 FEMA regions are attending the Cybersecurity Symposium, which runs from April 15-18. Attendees include Information Technology (IT) managers, Chief Information Security Officers, emergency managers, risk managers, government officials and critical infrastructure representatives.

Understanding Targeted Cyber Attacks and Recovering from Cybersecurity Incidents are new courses being presented to a national audience for the first time since they were piloted, Tate said. “Recovering from Cybersecurity Incidents is set to become the first recovery-focused cyber course in the DHS-FEMA course catalog, and it is filling a training gap that has long been needed,” she added.

“The course approaches cybersecurity in a way that no course has done before,” said Scott Terry, Department Head with TEEX’s Knowledge Engineering Division and course instructor. “The goal is to bridge the gap between emergency managers and IT personnel so they can prepare and work together to recover from a cyber incident. This training brings the top lessons learned and best practices from emergency management recovery to cybersecurity recovery. This is applicable to all critical infrastructure in a community, such as electric power companies, airports and water/wastewater utilities.”

“We are working to change the idea that the IT people are just there to set up a printer in the Emergency Operations Center — IT personnel are critical to providing operational, logistical and planning guidance for cybersecurity incidents,” he said. “Everyone who has a role in a cybersecurity incident needs a seat at the table.”

About the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service

The Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) is an internationally recognized leader in the delivery of emergency response, homeland security and workforce training, exercises, technical assistance, and economic development. A member of The Texas A&M University System, TEEX served more than 194,000 people from across the United States and 81 countries last year through hands-on training and technical services.

About NERRTC

The National Emergency Response and Recovery Training Center (NERRTC) is a founding member of the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium (NDPC), which operates under the DHS/FEMA’s National Preparedness Directorate’s National Training and Education Division. It provides specialized training in executive leadership, incident command, infrastructure protection, cybersecurity, emergency response, emergency medical services and public services. It is also one of five members of the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium (NCPC), which provides training, exercises and technical assistance to local jurisdictions, counties, states and the private sector to help ensure they can protect critical cyber assets and respond to a cyber event when one occurs.

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