Governor Otter pushes cyber security in state-of-the-state

In his State-of-the-State address, Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter discussed increasing cybersecurity for the Gem State.

“Our task force is working to identify what more the state can do to detect vulnerabilities, prevent cyber attacks, mitigate damages, and educate the people of Idaho on how to fight this global tool of crime and terror,” said Governor Otter in his speech.

That “task force” the governor brought up is the newly created collaboration between the Idaho National Laboratory and Boise State University that work together to thwart cyber attacks.

“The nation is facing a significant challenge in protecting ourselves in cyber threats. Specifically in our critical infrastructure,” said Brent Stacey, the associate lab director for Security at the INL.

Stacey said the collaboration focuses on three facets of cybersecurity. “We’ll be focusing on hygiene. Those are the routine things you do to protect your systems. We’ll be working on the advanced persistent threat. This is also where sophisticated nation states are trying to impact our national infrastructure. We’re also focusing on those low frequency high consequence events that can have significant impact,” said Stacey.

The governor wants $1 million from the state legislature to continue to support the Boise State University/INL partnership.

“We’re proud of that collaboration,” said Stacey. “This is another opportunity to do that specifically with the cyber security space.”

Governor Otter also announced the inclusion of the Idaho Air National Guard as one of 13 Guard commands nationwide to be designated as “cyber units.”

“The primary mission will be to combat attacks on any cyber threats, whether it’s foreign or domestic,” said Major Christopher Borders, with the Idaho Air National Guard.

The unit is a new creation and is just getting the blueprint for its organization started. “It’s a brand new mission. We don’t receive funding until 2017,” said Borders.