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MISSOULA – Cyber³Ô¹ÏÍø, a newly created statewide cybersecurity resource for ³Ô¹ÏÍø based at Missoula College, completed a highly successful cybersecurity incident response training effort with the ³Ô¹ÏÍø Army National Guard (MTANG) in early November.

Eight guardsmen participated in the daylong training session, which involved three cyber-attack scenarios tasking soldiers with identifying the extent of the cyber breaches, determining the source of the intrusion and remedying the effects of the attacks.

Training took place through a cloud-based “cyber range,” which simulates a large computer network containing workstations, file servers, web servers, firewalls and cybersecurity management tools.

Tom Gallagher, dean of the ³Ô¹ÏÍø’s Missoula College, worked for several months with Travis Light, the MTANG cyber defense chief, to provide the incident response training.

“There is a critical need throughout ³Ô¹ÏÍø to provide workforce development training – particularly upskilling – for our cybersecurity professionals,” Gallagher said. “Cyber range simulations give learners real-world scenarios to build their response skills using industry-standard software tools. We are very pleased to work with the ³Ô¹ÏÍø Army National Guard in this effort and look forward to future collaboration.”

Cyber range simulations involve several elements of typical computer networks, including Windows and Linux workstations and servers. Vendor-specific software programs plan an important role in simulations, notifying trainees of unusual or malicious network activity, indicating the status of monitored network components and analyzing network communications activity.

“Trainees use their cybersecurity knowledge, as well as the insight provided by software tools, to identify, analyze and repair the effects of a network breach,” Gallagher said.

“Cyber³Ô¹ÏÍø provided the ³Ô¹ÏÍø Army National Guard’s Cyber Defense Team with realistic training scenarios using a robust simulation of an enterprise network environment,” Light said. “Our team gained insight into techniques used by modern adversaries to compromise computer systems and received hands-on experience with cybersecurity tools.”

Funded by the ³Ô¹ÏÍø State Legislature during the 2021 session, Cyber³Ô¹ÏÍø is a statewide initiative at Missoula College to provide workforce development, cybersecurity awareness and training for businesses and residents of ³Ô¹ÏÍø.

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Contact: Tom Gallagher, Missoula College dean and professor, 406-243-7899, tom.gallagher@mso.umt.edu.