Cyber security training necessary for our state
Published 6:00 pm Sunday, September 15, 2019
Cyber security is something that should be taken more seriously, especially as the world becomes more reliant on technology.
Louisiana had its own cyber security issue in early August when Gov. John Bel Edwards issued an emergency declaration for school districts in several parishes that experienced breaches. The governor called the attacks “severe” and “intentional.”
Thankfully, no Southwest Louisiana parish school districts experienced network compromises. It’s encouraging that Calcasieu Parish School Board officials said the district has beefed up its security measures to be in line with mandates set by the Louisiana Department of Education.
However, the emergency declaration certainly should serve as a reminder that cyber threats like these are real and should be dealt with swiftly.
Louisiana looks to be addressing the issue of cyber security with a $1.5 million training and operations center in downtown Baton Rouge.
According to The Advocate, the center will initially focus on cyber-related missions at statewide military installations, including Fort Polk’s Joint Readiness Training Center.
Over time, the center will assist with other cyber attacks, such as the one that happened at the Louisiana school districts.
Maj. Gen. Glenn Curtis of the Louisiana National Guard said the center “gives us the secure intel that we need to look at our adversaries and see what they are trying to do to us and hopefully share that information with the appropriate agencies.”
Roughly 40 Louisiana National Guard reservists will be trained on-site. Other involved parties include Stephenson Technologies Corp. and the Huntsville, Ala.-based Radiance Technologies.
Fifteen employees of Stephenson that are highly trained to deal with cyber attacks will be moved to the new center. Five new hires will also be introduced. According to its website, Stephenson is a nonprofit owned by Louisiana State University that provides solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense.
The new cyber security training center is paramount in keeping Louisiana safe from any related threats. It’s good to see the state taking the steps needed to deal with a problem that isn’t going away.
