AWR-136 Essentials of Community Cybersecurity

The Essentials of Community Cybersecurity (ECCS) course provides individuals, community leaders, and first responders with information on how cyber attacks can impact, prevent, and/or stop operations and emergency responses in a community. The course also provides a cursory introduction to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, risks, threats, and countermeasures. It explains vulnerabilities of computer systems and networks and how these vulnerabilities can affect communities, organizations, and daily workplace operations. The course introduces actions communities can take in establishing a cybersecurity program. The course provides participants with an awareness of issues. It gives an overview of threats and vulnerabilities, without going into too many details, to highlight the potential impact a cyber attack could have. Participants discuss some of the fundamental activities needed to develop a cybersecurity program, without addressing the technical details of how to secure critical infrastructures. The course introduces the Community Cybersecurity Maturity Model (CCSMM) as a framework for understanding community cybersecurity and offers a brief introduction to low-cost or no-cost approaches to securing a community against cybersecurity threats and attacks. The course sets the stage for further efforts in which a community can build a cybersecurity program.

Course objectives:

• Identify reasons why communities are vulnerable to cyber attack.
• Differentiate between the levels of cybersecurity threats.
• Recognize that terrorists are capable of, and planning to use, computers to attack American communities and citizens.
• Describe how everyone is affected by and has a role in cyber security efforts.
• List ways cyber can affect the physical world.
• Recognize the purpose of the Community Cyber Security Maturity Model.
• State one technique for enhancing security awareness among community leaders.
• Give one example of how a community can share cybersecurity-related information.
• Identify at least two kinds of exercises.
• Recognize that cybersecurity exercises are as important as other exercises to protect their organization, community, state and nation.

The target audience is personnel involved with critical infrastructure, emergency operations, and incident response in public or private organizations, including state, county, and municipal officials; members of industry affiliations and chambers of commerce.

Course manager:
James Yates
Thurston County Emergency Management
Phone: 360-867-2828
Email: yatesj@co.thurston.wa.us
To apply, please contact James Yates.