Illinois National Guard participating in Operation Cyber Shield

Maj. Gen. Rich Neely, adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, is present at the guard’s air base in Springfield for a cybersecurity exercise. (Photo courtesy: Dave Dahl/WJBC)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – A test of the firewalls is on, as the Illinois National Guard is participating in Operation Cyber Shield. It’s a national exercise that’s in its second and final week.

“We’re looking at, how does critical infrastructure get impacted,” said the Illinois Guard’s adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Rich Neely in describing the problem’s civilian threats. “We don’t have to go back very many weeks to the Colonial Pipeline attack. 45 percent of the fuel for the East Coast was taken offline because of a ransomware attack.”
Neely, himself a cybersecurity expert, said the exercise includes both Air and Army National Guardsmen and -women – and also civilians from the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

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