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Merit Network, Inc.: Successful Cyber Exercise Tests Skills of Michigan Cyber Civilian Corps and WMCSC
[July 25, 2014]

Merit Network, Inc.: Successful Cyber Exercise Tests Skills of Michigan Cyber Civilian Corps and WMCSC


(Thomson Reuters ONE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) For Immediate Release Successful Cyber Incident Exercise Tests Skills of Michigan Cyber Civilian Corps and WMCSC By Brian Warkoczeski Grand Rapids, Mich. - On Wednesday, the Michigan Cyber Civilian Corps (MiC3) came together for the first time to participate in a cyber incident response exercise with the West Michigan Cyber Security Consortium (WMCSC) at Davenport University in Grand Rapids. MiC3 members acted as the Blue Team, protecting the Michigan Cyber Range's virtual town of Alphaville from cyber attacks conducted by WMCSC's Red Team.



"This exercise is historic," said Brigadier General Michael Stone, Michigan Army National Guard. "Emergency Management planners have been dreaming of something like a Civilian Cyber Corps in Michigan for years. It's now a reality." "What a great event! It was wonderful to see so many cyber professionals in action, and the learning and networking opportunities were fantastic. This was a great start for the Michigan Cyber Corps," said Dan Lohrmann, Michigan Chief Security Officer.

Prior to the start of the event, the cell leader for MiC3 met with his teammates to determine their strengths and weaknesses, then breaking his group into two teams: forensics and incident handling. When the exercise started, the teams worked to determine what IT systems in Alphaville were compromised, what information was taken, and what steps were needed to keep the remaining parts of Alphaville safe.


Alphaville is a collection of virtual machines developed by Merit Network that simulate the IT systems of a town, including a public library, public school, police station and power plant. The MiC3 Blue Team defended email servers, web servers, and file systems from waves of attacks from WMCSC members, who acted as the antagonists during the exercise-playing the role of ethical hackers to exploit weaknesses in Alphaville and to steal sensitive information, such as fake credit card numbers.

"Real-time hacking/defense exercises can always be valuable," said Matthew Carpenter of Grimm, who participated on WMCSC's Red Team. "However, the Michigan Cyber Range includes critical infrastructure, real-world weaknesses, great visualizations, and a compelling backstory for scenarios which provide far more than just your average 'hack-along-with-Mitch' games. Red/Blue Teams walk away with new battle scars, stories, and veteran experience. They also know more of what they need to improve one. Win win." "I am thrilled at our performance at the cyber exercise," said Kevin Hayes of MiC3's Blue Team. "This was our first time working together in a simulated high- pressure environment, and everybody was able to communicate and delegate with success. Our team has skilled individuals who were able to identify the malware and attack vectors of the incoming attacks as the exercise progressed, which is even more impressive given that our scenario was combating a new and unknown environment. While this was an important exercise with regards to building our cyber team and dealing with unknown situations, it was an extremely fun one as well." The exercise marked the debut of MiC3, which was officially launched in May.

MiC3 is made up of a group of cyber security professionals who volunteer to provide their expertise and assistance to protect critical infrastructure and make Michigan a safer place. Similar to the idea of the National Guard or a volunteer fire department, in times of need the MiC3 are first responders to cyber-attacks. The Governor will activate MiC3 cells during a state of emergency.

"They would be kind of like a volunteer fire department-on call in case a small business or college would have a cyber incident," said Joe Adams, vice president of research and cyber security for Merit Network. "They could be called out by the State under a state of emergency and would be able to assist businesses, schools, and organizations that need the extra help or experience to recover." "With this event, Michigan set a precedent for the entire nation in cyber security," said Tonia Cronin, program manager for the Michigan Cyber Civilian Corps. "However, it would not be possible without the generous support of the State of Michigan, our sponsors, and the companies represented by the team participants." The exercise was made possible through the support of the following organizations: Centurion Medical, Chemical Bank, Cisco Systems, Davenport University, Department of Technology Management and Budget (State of Michigan), Grimm, Jackson County, Kent County, Kent Record Management, Loc Performance, Macatawa Bank, Michigan Health Information Network, Michigan Virtual University, Oakland County, Spectrum Health, and Wayne State University.

This was the second cybersecurity exercise organized by WMCSC and the Michigan Cyber Range. During last year's event at Grand Valley State University, members of WMCSC acted as the Blue Team to detect and mitigate cyber-attacks.

About West Michigan Cyber Security Consortium The West Michigan Cyber Security Consortium (WMCSC) is a multi-jurisdictional, public/private partnership whose purpose is to enhance the prevention, protection, response and recovery to cyber security threats, disruptions and degradation to critical information technology functions. Its membership includes individuals from government, health care, law enforcement and private businesses. The group meets quarterly to share information around cybersecurity issues.

About Michigan Cyber Range The Michigan Cyber Range prepares cybersecurity professionals to detect, prevent and mitigate cyber-attacks in a real-world setting. Like a test track or a firing range, the Michigan Cyber Range enables individuals and organizations to conduct "live fire" exercises: simulations that test the detection and reaction skills of participants in a variety of situations. The Michigan Cyber Range also offers certification courses for a number of cybersecurity disciplines, with instruction available on-site and live online. A full training schedule may be found at the Merit Michigan Cyber Range web site: www.merit.edu/cyberrange/ The Michigan Cyber Range is hosted and facilitated by Merit Network in partnership with the State of Michigan and with the sponsorship of Consumers Energy and DTE Energy.

About Merit Network Merit Network, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation owned and governed by Michigan's public universities. Merit owns and operates America's longest-running regional research and education network. In 1966, Michigan's public universities created Merit as a shared resource to help meet their common need for networking assistance. Since its formation, Merit Network has remained on the forefront of research and education networking expertise and services. Merit provides high- performance networking and IT solutions to Michigan's public universities, colleges, K-12 organizations, libraries, state government, healthcare, and other non-profit organizations.

For more information: www.merit.edu/ For press/media contact: Elwood Downing Merit Network, Inc.

Phone: (734)527-5702 Email: [email protected] This announcement is distributed by GlobeNewswire on behalf of GlobeNewswire clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

Source: Merit Network, Inc. via GlobeNewswire [HUG#1839090]

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