NCSC and partners equip courts to recover from cyber-attacks and disasters
October 2, 2024 -- NCSC recently hosted a cybersecurity and disaster recovery workshop in Sun Valley, Idaho. The 1.5-day onsite
event brought together state court administrators, judicial officers, staff attorneys, technology leadership, emergency managers, and public information officers from 10 states and two US territories.
"Like many other government entities, courts are increasingly targets of cyberattacks and not immune to other types of disasters," said Shay Cleary, NCSC’s managing director for technology and architectural services. "Despite good prevention efforts, every court will almost certainly face a cybersecurity incident or other disruption.”
The workshop equipped participants with the knowledge and tools to respond to cyber threats and other unplanned events. Cleary emphasized that building cyber resilience and capacity requires a team-based blend of information, resources, planning, and preparation.
Regional workshops
The Sun Valley workshop was the first of five planned regional workshops over the next 18 months that will take place across the country. The next regional workshop will be held in Annapolis, Maryland later this month.
Each workshop is divided into three parts: online educational sessions, self-paced meetings and information gathering, and in-person collaborative tabletop exercises. Through this comprehensive format, participants deepen their understanding of cybersecurity and disaster recovery over approximately four weeks.
The tabletop exercises and education are led by NCSC, the Center for Internet Security (CIS), members of the Chief Information Technology Officers Consortium (CITOC), the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA), and other industry experts.
“The tabletop exercises provided our court with an opportunity to work through the scenarios and engage in discussions on how we will respond, especially with the information we learned from the presenters prior to the exercises,” commented one workshop participant.
A regional exhibit show featuring cybersecurity-related vendors is also provided as part of the workshops. The workshops are made possible in part by a grant from the State Justice Institute (SJI).
To learn more about the regional cybersecurity and disaster recovery workshops, visit ncsc.org/cyber or email cyber@ncsc.org.
Pictured above are members of the education team in Sun Valley, Idaho, including staff from NCSC, the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC)/Center for Internet Security (CIS), and the Arkansas Supreme Court.