PETERSON SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. –
A roundtable discussion co-hosted by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and U.S. Northern Command was held here Aug. 22, 2023, bringing together federal and state governments and industry partners to share information outlining strategies for building resilience and response to cyber or physical attacks on America’s critical energy infrastructure.
“Resiliency is a key aspect of deterrence and homeland defense,” said Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and USNORTHCOM. “The vast majority of U.S. critical infrastructure resides beyond DoD and other federal agencies … it resides with our local, state, and commercial partners, which is why collaboration and information sharing is key. This event will enable DoD, our federal partners, and key stakeholders to continue to build our national resiliency.”
Malicious actors within the global security environment are continuously innovating new and intrusive technologies and techniques to undermine legitimate global structures and orders. Seemingly innocuous instances can deteriorate American systems and the ability to respond and react during crisis and conflict.
Critical infrastructure, which includes industry, government and commercial operations and systems such as electrical grids and satellite communications forms the backbone of the American economy. The energy industry roundtable, which is the first in what will become a
series of conversations and exercises, included myriad objectives ranging from strategic principles of domain awareness and global integration to roles, responsibilities and response procedures across shared resources prior to, during and after a possible incident.
“Our nation’s critical infrastructure forms a complex, interconnected ecosystem, and any threat to these sectors could have potentially debilitating national security, economic, and public health or safety consequences,” said CISA Director Jen Easterly. “Now more than ever we must be prepared for any threat scenario and do the work up front to prepare for disruption and incentivize long term investments for a resilient future while still defending against the urgent threats we face today.”
Director Easterly said CISA routinely partners with industry and government to plan and practice a wide range of possible scenarios and brings to its partners a program of tabletop exercises centered around united stakeholders to practice how a community responds to an emergency. She said it’s an important part of maintaining the security of the country’s infrastructure.
Lt. Gen. A.C. Roper, USNORTHCOM deputy commander, said the only way to defend against attacks on the nation’s energy infrastructure is for government and industry partners to work together.
“Advancing capabilities embolden competitors and adversaries to challenge us at home, threaten our people, our critical infrastructure and power projection capabilities,” he said. “Successful continental resiliency is a strong deterrent to our adversaries, and defense against these diverse attacks rely on a whole-of-government response in coordination with our industry and commercial partners.”
More than 35 participants from eight different state and federal agencies alongside 10 major energy industry representatives joined the discussion. The result was a stronger integration and alignment of communication continuity to employ during suspected attacks against our nation’s energy systems.
USNORTHCOM serves as a synchronizer for DoD collaborative, whole-of-government response efforts. When state and local resources are at capacity, federal agencies may request DoD assistance as part of the national response. DoD’s collaborative efforts with interagency partners demonstrate national resilience that reassure the American public and make clear to competitors and potential aggressors our Nation’s readiness, responsiveness and capability in quickly recovering from disasters.
-30-
NOTE TO EDITORS: For further information, please contact U.S. Northern Command Public Affairs at (719) 554-6889 or email us at n-ncpa.omb@mail.mil. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter at www.facebook.com/USNORTHCOM and twitter.com/USNorthernCmd.