KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- The Defense Information Systems Agency is scheduled to conduct Keesler’s Command Cyber Readiness Inspection June 13-17.
As a base-wide inspection, the CCRI will evaluate the installation’s ability to adhere to standards set in place for any base connected to the Defense Department’s networks.
“DISA does their inspection every 3-4 years, and our last one was in 2012,” said Lt. Col. Billy Pope, 81st Communications Squadron commander. “The CCRI offers a holistic view of cyber security on the installation – how current the antivirus software is, how compliant we are with security directives and what the culture of cyber security is like.”
Even though cyber security is usually thought of as the communications squadron’s responsibility, Pope stressed the base as a whole is being evaluated, including visits to randomly selected units.
“Three particular technical areas will be tested: scanning, patching and remediating areas of vulnerabilities, our compliance with technical directives and our culture; our physical security and how well we as a base comply with what we can and can’t do,” he said. “Sure, it’s our responsibility to make sure the right patches are pushed to your computer but ultimately the base’s cyber security is up to everyone.”
Pope also offered a few tips to help Keesler be successful for the upcoming CCRI:
-Log out of and restart computers daily. Software patches won’t install if computers aren’t regularly rebooted.
-Remove your Common Access Card when leaving your work station. The information contained in the CAC’s chip is highly sought-after by our adversaries.
-Know who to talk to if there’s a computer emergency. Each unit has a cyber security liaison, formerly known as an information assurance officer, who can help when there are issues with your computer.
-Don’t open suspicious emails or attachments and be careful about what sites you visit on a government network. The human element is the single biggest vulnerability to cyber security and also the hardest to control.
As Keesler gears up for its evaluation, Pope maintains high expectations for its performance.
“Being one of the Air Force’s cyber centers of excellence, we very much expect to do well; we’ve set the bar very high,” he said. “Ultimately, all it will take is for us as a base to be successful is to ‘Stop, Think, and Connect’ and we’ll be good to go for the CCRI.”