{"id":13978,"date":"2022-07-06T14:08:22","date_gmt":"2022-07-06T14:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/07\/06\/cyber-yankee-exercise-hones-new-england-guard-skills-to-fight-digital-threats\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:05:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:05:46","slug":"cyber-yankee-exercise-hones-new-england-guard-skills-to-fight-digital-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2022\/07\/06\/cyber-yankee-exercise-hones-new-england-guard-skills-to-fight-digital-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyber Yankee exercise hones New England Guard skills to fight digital threats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 National Guard teams from across New England partnered with other military services and the private sector to practice fending off cyberattacks and dealing with their fallout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual Cyber Yankee exercise, held June 5-18 at Camp Nett in Connecticut, provided participants with valuable insights and tactical experience that can now be applied in the real world, where digital attacks on critical infrastructure<\/a> and commerce are increasingly common, according to Guard officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyberattacks on U.S. critical infrastructure are on the rise. Ransomware attacks in 2021 jeopardized information and control at companies including JBS, the world\u2019s largest meat producer, and the Colonial Pipeline, which ferries refined products from Texas to New Jersey and provides a little less than half of the fuel used on the East Coast. In March, Bradley International Airport in Connecticut was hit by a distributed denial of service attack that aimed to knock its website offline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCyber Yankee is an exercise that helps cyber operators develop experience in the field,\u201d Staff Sgt. John Young, a member of the Connecticut National Guard, said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cWhat you get is the ability for cyber operators to see what kind of threats are out there, how they can mitigate those threats in a cyber environment, as well as getting experience collaborating with industry partners in critical fields for not just Connecticut, but other states.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now in its eighth year, Cyber Yankee pits defenders, known as blue teams, against red team attackers in a set of realistic events and replicated networks using the Persistent Cyber Training Environment.<\/p>\n\n\n