UC hosts exercise to prepare Ohio for potential cyberattacks

Three teams from the Ohio Cyber Reserve, a volunteer force under the command of the state’s adjutant general, came to UC Digital Futures for the four-day exercise. They were evaluated based on their effectiveness, nimbleness and adherence to standard operating procedures.

“(There are) three teams from Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland," Craig Baker, program administrator for the Ohio Cyber Reserve, said to WCPO. "Everybody comes in on their own time, they’re not paid, they volunteer this time."

The reservists were confronted with a simulated cyberattack against a fictional Ohio city.

"We can simulate the library system, we can simulate the offices that we'd have in a normal city," Bekah Michael, associate professor-educator in UC's School of Information Technology and executive staff director of the OCRI, said to WXVU. "And then also we're simulating the internet through gray space; we're simulating social media."

This was the second consecutive year that UC has hosted the cybersecurity exercise for the Ohio Cyber Reserve. The reservists hail from throughout Ohio and represent Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland units that can respond to cybersecurity incidents anywhere in the state.

"Unless you're constantly engaging and learning, you're a sitting duck," Scott Petersen, executive director of UC Digital Futures-Cyber Development, said to WLWT.

With growing dependence on the internet, now everyone is on the front line of cybersecurity, said Richard Harknett, director of the School of Public and International Affairs and co-director of the Ohio Cyber Range Institute.

“So, why are cyber criminals attacking the digital space? That’s where modern money is,” Harknett said to Local 12. “And money actually sits in data, our personal data.”

Other states and nations have contacted the Ohio Cyber Range Institute to learn about the state’s approach to cybersecurity training and hope to replicate what’s happening in Ohio, the media outlets reported.

See more:

• Local 12
• WCPO
• WLWT
• WVXU

Featured image at top: Members of the Ohio Cyber Reserve respond to a simulated attack during a validation exercise at UC Digital Futures. All photos by Joseph Fuqua