CINCINNATI — In a day and age when individuals, businesses and governments are constantly facing cyber threats, the Ohio Cyber Reserve gathered at the University of Cincinnati on Monday for a practice exercise.
The Reserve is one of two groups with the Ohio National Guard that can respond to cybersecurity incidents.
“(There are) three teams from Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland," said Craig Baker, program administrator for the Ohio Cyber Reserve. "Everybody comes in on their own time, they’re not paid, they volunteer this time."
Monday's exercise at UC involved a completely made up scenario, with a fake Ohio town facing a cyber attack.
“We put together this city network within the Cyber Range and we have malware attacks, we have an opposing forces or a red team that are attacking them and they are responding as they normally would if they were deployed to a city," said Rebekah Michael with the Ohio Cyber Range Institute, which is based at UC.
This was the first exercise of this magnitude at the Ohio Cyber Range Institute, but they've already heard from other states and even countries for help setting up their own cyber range.
The Ohio Cyber Reserve was created in 2019 in an effort by state lawmakers to make sure Ohio is better prepared for cyber threats.
"There's over 130 attacks in the United States for every one person who's trained to conduct cybersecurity," Baker said.
The Ohio Cyber Reserve doesn't just respond to cybersecurity incidents. It also works with local governments to prevent them by conducting audits to find and help them fix vulnerabilities.
According to the Ohio National Guard, the Ohio Cyber Reserve also provides workforce development to students.
The other Ohio National Guard group that responds to cyber attacks is the Ohio National Guard Cyber Force, according to the Ohio National Guard.
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