Cyber Yankee exercise hones New England Guard skills to fight digital threats

WASHINGTON — National Guard teams from across New England partnered with other military services and the private sector to practice fending off cyberattacks and dealing with their fallout.

The annual Cyber Yankee exercise, held June 5-18 at Camp Nett in Connecticut, provided participants with valuable insights and tactical experience that can now be applied in the real world, where digital attacks on critical infrastructure and commerce are increasingly common, according to Guard officials.

Cyberattacks on U.S. critical infrastructure are on the rise. Ransomware attacks in 2021 jeopardized information and control at companies including JBS, the world’s largest meat producer, and the Colonial Pipeline, which ferries refined products from Texas to New Jersey and provides a little less than half of the fuel used on the East Coast. In March, Bradley International Airport in Connecticut was hit by a distributed denial of service attack that aimed to knock its website offline.

“Cyber Yankee is an exercise that helps cyber operators develop experience in the field,” Staff Sgt. John Young, a member of the Connecticut National Guard, said in a statement . “What you get is the ability for cyber operators to see what kind of threats are out there, how they can mitigate those threats in a cyber environment, as well as getting experience collaborating with industry partners in critical fields for not just Connecticut, but other states.”

Now in its eighth year, Cyber Yankee pits defenders, known as blue teams, against red team attackers in a set of realistic events and replicated networks using the Persistent Cyber Training Environment.

Last year’s Cyber Yankee event involved simulated hacks that paralyzed West Coast utilities and rattled the Northeast. In 2020, participants had to protect computer files from theft or manipulation and sift through the din of social media to identify threats .

The Guard is becoming somewhat of first responder to major cyberattacks, tasked at the state and local level with repairing networks, battling back intruders and putting into play resources a small municipality or utility might not have available.

Lt. Col. Karmin Ng, the deputy exercise director and member of the Massachusetts National Guard, in a statement described Cyber Yankee as “one of the most diverse,” wide-ranging and effective trainings available. The Marine Corps and Coast Guard, among other branches, took part this year.

“Whether it’s a state or a federal effort,” Ng said, “the importance of being prepared to respond to a cyber incident is paramount.”

Colin Demarest was a reporter at C4ISRNET, where he covered military networks, cyber and IT. Colin had previously covered the Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration — namely Cold War cleanup and nuclear weapons development — for a daily newspaper in South Carolina. Colin is also an award-winning photographer.

华盛顿——来自新英格兰各地的国民警卫队与其它军事部门和私营部门合作，演练抵御网络攻击和应对其后果。

据国民警卫队官员称，一年一度的“网络扬基”演习于 6 月 5 日至 18 日在康涅狄格州内特营地举行，为参与者提供了宝贵的见解和战术经验，这些经验现在可以应用到现实世界中，因为针对关键基础设施和商业的数字攻击越来越普遍。

针对美国关键基础设施的网络攻击呈上升趋势。2021年，勒索软件攻击危及了包括全球最大的肉类生产商JBS和科洛尼尔输油管道（该管道将精炼产品从德克萨斯州输送到新泽西州，为美国东海岸提供近一半的燃料）在内的多家公司的信息安全和控制。今年3月，康涅狄格州布拉德利国际机场遭受分布式拒绝服务攻击，其网站被迫瘫痪。

“‘网络扬基’演习旨在帮助网络作战人员积累实战经验，”康涅狄格州国民警卫队成员约翰·杨中士在一份声明中表示。“通过演习，网络作战人员能够了解网络空间中存在的各种威胁，学习如何在网络环境中缓解这些威胁，并获得与行业伙伴在关键领域（不仅对康涅狄格州，而且对其他州都至关重要）开展合作的经验。”

Cyber​​ Yankee 已经举办了八年，它利用持久网络训练环境，在一系列逼真的事件和复制网络中，让被称为蓝队的防御者与红队攻击者进行对抗。

去年的“网络安全挑战赛”（Cyber​​ Yankee）模拟了黑客攻击，导致西海岸公用事业瘫痪，东北部地区也受到波及。2020年，参赛者需要保护计算机文件免遭窃取或篡改，并在社交媒体的喧嚣中筛选威胁。

国民警卫队正逐渐成为应对重大网络攻击的第一响应者，在州和地方层面承担着修复网络、击退入侵者以及利用小型市政当局或公用事业公司可能没有的资源的任务。

马萨诸塞州国民警卫队中校、此次演习的副指挥官卡明·吴在一份声明中称，“网络扬基”演习是“最多样化”、“覆盖面最广”且最有效的训练之一。包括海军陆战队和海岸警卫队在内的多个军种参加了今年的演习。

吴说：“无论是州政府还是联邦政府，做好应对网络安全事件的准备都至关重要。”

科林·德马雷斯特曾是C4ISRNET的记者，负责报道军事网络、网络安全和信息技术方面的新闻。此前，他曾为南卡罗来纳州的一家日报报道美国能源部及其下属的国家核安全管理局，主要关注冷战后的清理工作和核武器研发。科林还是一位屡获殊荣的摄影师。