Page 10 - The Dispatch September 2018

TEXAS MILITARY DEPARTMENT
TEXAS' ALL-VOLUNTEER

CYBER SQUAD

Story by: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Janet Schmelzer information technology which helps the team bring cyber
Texas State Guard Public Affairs security best practices, credibility, technical expertise and
innovative ideas to the Texas State Guard.

"You can't get into cyber security without some kind of
foundation. To get your foot in the door, you either go
get your degree or certifications, or you can get years of
experience with certifications that specialize in informa-
tion security," team member Staff Sgt. Andrew Williams
said. "You not only have to know security, but also net-
working, programming, and everything about electronics
down to the ones and zeros and the science and theories
of electricity to defend effectively against the most serious
of attacks that occur today."

To counteract cyberattacks proactively and reactively,
team members have to think like the digital bad actors to
defend information systems and private data.
Members of the Texas State Guard cyber team review a realtime
heat map of cyber attacks in the United States during August drill "Thinking like hackers and digital intruders uncovers sys-
held at Camp Mabry. (Texas State Guard Photo By Sgt. 1st Class tem vulnerabilities and flaws and leads us to find a way to
John Gately)
keep the system protected," Williams said.

AUSTIN, Texas - The Cyber Security team of the Texas State Team members are also focused on how information
Guard is ready to protect the State Guard's information technology and cyber security will assist the individual
systems from digital attackers and advanced persistent guardsman. They create and protect a controlled infor-
threats and to recover from hardware and software fail- mation system environment to keep the personal data of
ures. a guardsmen safe by monitoring, investigating and report-
ing anomalies and log files.
"The team's primary purpose is to monitor the ever-chang-
ing digital battlefield, respond to network-based threats, The Cyber Security team plans to provide additional infor-
and stop digital adversaries from disrupting the Guard’s mation technology and cyber security support to individ-
ability to complete our mission of providing help to the ual Texas State Guard personnel. The team will conduct
people of Texas when they need it," team leader Sgt. 1st site visits to train Texas State Guard members on how to
Class Andrew Garthe said. protect their personal data and educate them on how to
spot and manage threats like phishing, social engineering,
Team members bring more than 50 years of combined catfishing and ransomware.
information technology experience and cyber security
knowledge to help protect Texas State Guard hardware, Across the Texas State Guard the team plans to train unit
software and data. They have industry recognized certi- information technology specialists on how to conduct
fications, training and education, and a deep understand- cyber security functions, use information technology re-
ing of the cyber security landscape. One of the team’s sources ethically and train technology specialists to pro-
strengths is that members come from different areas of vide e-mail and phone support. -D

10 TheDISPATCH SEPTEMBER 2018